SRINAGAR: The Wildlife Department told the Legislative Assembly that no “No Objection Certificates” for the construction of residential houses were issued in any district of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir except Anantnag, where its south division received 349 applications between January 2024 and December 2025 and issued 346 NOCs after scrutiny.
The reply, tabled in response to a question by Altaf Ahmad Wani, said two applications were rejected for incomplete documentation and one was withdrawn because the site fell within the Overa-Aru Wildlife Sanctuary and is regulated under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
Officials said the 346 approvals followed standard verification and site inspection procedures; they added that one application had been withdrawn at an early stage because the proposed plot lay inside the sanctuary boundary. The department’s statement makes clear that, outside Anantnag, no residential-construction NOCs were issued during the two years under review.
The documents emphasised legal safeguards for protected areas and cited the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, relevant wildlife rules and sanctuary regulations as the basis for the single withdrawal and for stringent scrutiny of all applications. The department pointed to established protocols requiring close liaison with local authorities — for example, the Pahalgam Development Authority, the sub-divisional magistrate and block development office — before any recommendation for a NOC is issued.
The Assembly record shows two applications rejected for non-submission of required documents and one withdrawn because the proposed site lay within a protected sanctuary. It does not, however, quantify how many pending applications remain under consideration elsewhere, nor does it set out clear remedial steps to address any systemic backlog in verification or inter-departmental clearances.
