Panel to be constituted to check illegal structures in J&K

With illegal structures fast mushrooming at various tourism spots in the state, the Jammu and Kashmir government has decided to constitute a committee to check such constructions and also ordered cancellation of their registration for doing business in the area.
"The state government has decided to constitute a (panel) to check cases of illegal construction at tourism spots under the purview of the various tourist development authorities," an official spokesperson said here today.
The decision in this regard was taken at a high-level meeting yesterday chaired by the J&K minister for tourism Ghulam Ahmad Mir.
State minister for tourism and home, Sajad Ahmad Kichloo, too, attended the meeting, the spokesman said.

Mir directed officials to ensure a complete ban on illegal structures and said that no such constructions should be registered. Even the registration of existing structures which are found to be illegal should be cancelled, he said.
"The meeting decided that no illegal construction should be registered and steps for their demolition should be taken to safeguard... Tourism spots," he said.

It was decided at the meeting that nobody would be allowed to create infrastructure in areas under the jurisdiction of the various tourism development authorities in the state without conforming strictly to the rules.
The meeting also notified new potential tourism areas under the jurisdiction of the Pahalgam Development Authority and the ministers directed that the required notification be issued in this regard.

"(The topic of) preparation of master plans for creating tourist infrastructure at various locations also came up with directions for ensuring their timely preparation," the spokesman added.