SRINAGAR: Construction activity at Mamal in Pahalgam has come under scrutiny after the Forest Department directed that the work be stopped and sought a detailed report on how the construction was allowed to begin in the environmentally fragile area.
Divisional Forest Officer Sajad Ahmad said the department has sought a report on the construction and directed that the work be stopped pending examination of the matter.
“We have directed to stop the work and I have sought details how come this construction in the fragile zone started,” Ahmad said.
The development has raised fresh questions over construction activity in and around Mamal, an area with a documented history of disputes over encroachments and unauthorized structures in forest and wildlife areas.
Court proceedings concerning Pahalgam have previously recorded restrictions on fresh construction in prohibited forest, wildlife and buffer zones. Authorities had also identified a large number of structures in such areas and undertaken measures for their documentation and regulation.
Mamal itself has previously witnessed demolition drives against structures described by authorities as illegal. In November 2020, a joint operation involving the PDA, Wildlife, Forest, Revenue and other departments reportedly retrieved around 110 kanals of forest land at Mamal, with illegal huts, dokas and fencing removed from the land.
The present construction has therefore brought the issue back into focus, particularly over whether the structures now coming up constitute permissible renovation of existing structures or amount to fresh construction or expansion.
The distinction is significant in view of the restrictions governing construction in protected and environmentally sensitive areas, where even repair or renovation activity may require examination and approval by the competent authorities.
The Forest Department’s decision to halt the work and seek details is expected to establish the nature of the structures, the status of the land on which they are being raised and whether the requisite permissions were obtained. (KNT)
