145;Dal146;s VIPs were stumbling blocks146;

The Mufti Mohammad Sayeed government8217;s decision to order a probe into the illegal constructions in the green belt area around Dal Lake ...

The Mufti Mohammad Sayeed government8217;s decision to order a probe into the illegal constructions in the green belt area around Dal Lake took a new turn today with officials of the three departments entrusted with restoration of the lake saying they never granted permission for the constructions.

Officials of the Lakes and Waterways Development Authority LAWDA, Srinagar Municipality and Tourism Department said today that they never gave permission to construct the buildings around the lake that include the official residences of former CM Farooq Abdullah, State Director General of Police and other opulent government and private buildings.

The permission for constructing the buildings is granted by LAWDA while the other departments provide the 8216;no objection8217; certificate.

Khursheed Naqib, vice-chairman of LAWDA, the premier agency which leads the lake restoration programme, said he has issued notices to the offices of the former chief minister and the DGP for the constructions that flout norms under the Srinagar Master Plan 71 and Dal Development Programme.

However, he added that he 8216;8216;could not go ahead with the demolition of the buildings because the people involved were big people8217;8217;.

8216;8216;I have tried taking action against such high-profile people in the past. There is always a huge stumbling block whenever I try doing it,8217;8217; he said. 8216;8216;Once I tried to demolish the wall of an influential doctor-turned-politician but the security forces guarding him threatened my men and we had to beat a hasty retreat,8217;8217; he added.

A.R. Lone, Executive Officer of Srinagar Municipality who is also a member of the Building Operations Control Authority BOCA, the body that grants permission for such constructions, said the issue of granting permission never came up in meetings. Confirming this, Naqib said the permissions were not granted during his Lone8217;s tenure.

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8216;8216;I am fully implementing the 1971 Master Plan and no permission was granted in the belt after I took over,8217;8217; Lone said.

Sources said construction work has been stopped at the official residences of Abdullah and the DGP. Admitting that the land where the DGP8217;s house has been constructed was owned by the Tourism Department, Mohammad Ashraf, Director General, Tourism, said he did not give away any land to the DGP. He added that he had even issued a notice to the state government when he came to know that the 8216;8216;DGP had taken over the land. However, there was no reply from the government.8217;8217;

Meanwhile, the three-member high-level committee headed by Divisional Commissioner Parvez Dewan which is probing the case has issued notices to LAWDA and the Srinagar Municipality, asking them to furnish details about the constructions.

8216;8216;The departments have been asked to submit the details within 20 days,8217;8217; government sources said.

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Besides the official residences of the former CM and the DGP, the illegal constructions include two VIP plush huts belonging to the Grand Palace, a five-star hotel owned by industrialist Lalit Suri, who is close to Abdullah, and a Jammu and Kashmir Bank guesthouse besides government and private buildings.