October 22, 2006	Sunday	Ramazan 28, 1427

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MURREE, Oct 21: A legacy of British period, the green belt of The Mall has been damaged due to the alleged illegal construction of two hotels, hoodwinking the public and the authorities by falsely claiming that the work was being undertaken with the Supreme Court’s permission, it has been learnt.

The two hotels, Al-Mahaz and Darvesh, are being constructed by Homi Jamshed Kaikubad.

During the construction of multi-storey Al-Mahaz hotel, a ‘bogus’ notice board was installed outside the site, warning that the work was being carried out following SC and high court orders issued on 17-10-2001 and 25-10-2000, respectively, and no authority should interfere in the construction.

However, taking notice of an appeal filed by a local NGO against the construction, the apex court issued a notice to Murree town nazim to submit his comments to the registrar of the court before 9-10-2006.

The town nazim, Sardar Saleem Khan, in his detailed comments submitted to the court on 6-10-2006, declared the construction of the building illegal. He added that the work was being undertaken during a ban on such activities as there were no SC orders permitting the construction.

He further stated that due to the installation of the ‘bogus’ warning board outside the under-construction building, the green belt of The Mall was damaged.

The Lahore High Court, the town nazim said, had only ordered the owner to deposit the building map fee, which was a prerequisite for submission of a map for processing. And, in spite of the fact that the map was not approved, construction work was started, he added.

Mr Khan also informed the court that the owner of the building, Homi Jamshed Kaikubad, was in jail facing various corruption cases. He said the case of installation of bogus board and damaging of the green belt was being heard by civil judge Murree.

The town nazim appealed to the apex court that the civil court might be asked to expedite case proceedings, and a suo motu action be taken in accordance with the decision of the apex court in the Municipal Committee Murree versus Homi Jamshed Case, dated 15-02-2006.

Homi Jamshed committed contempt of court by constructing the illegal building and damaging the green belt of The Mall, the town nazim contended.

It may be mentioned here that during the British time, one side of The Mall was declared ‘green belt’ and all kinds of constructions were prohibited to save the belt, and the ban is still in place. The installation of bogus board outside the under-construction hotel encouraged illegal constructions in Murree.

It is interesting to note that on one hand large scale irregularities were committed, and on the other, the TMA allowed the owner of the building in question to lay the sewerage line by digging up The Mall despite the fact that the administration had suspended the acting tehsil municipal officer, Sarfraz Khan Shaid, for being involved in the irregular construction of the hotel building.

Meanwhile, the Rural Areas Development Organisation (Rado) has shown strong reaction to damaging of the green belt due to ‘illegal’ construction and the permission granted to the building owner by the TMA to lay sewerage line.

Terming it a sheer violation of by-laws, the organisation termed the construction contempt of court.

The building of Al-Mahaz hotel is included in the list of 162 buildings declared dangerous and illegal by TMA Murree. Rado has appealed to the apex court to take suo motu action against the illegal construction, violation of by-laws, installation of a bogus board, cutting down of trees and damaging of the green belt. It has also called for taking the TMA staff concerned to task.

It has been learnt that the record of the said building was misplaced with the connivance of the TMA staff. Rado as well as some notables of the area have urged the apex court to enforce its writ and stop illegal construction of multi-storey buildings, including Al-Mahaz Hotel, and save what’s left of the green belt.

It would be the test case for the TMA whether it takes action against 162 buildings declared dangerous and illegally constructed by the administration itself as the Supreme Court had ordered to demolish them within a period of two months in the Human Right Case (No.4494/2006) filed by Rado. So far, no action has been taken against any of the buildings as the town nazim had given 15 days to the owners to demolish the illegal portions about 20 days ago.