Srinagar: Due to the ban on construction activities as part of the Covid lockdown, people in Srinagar are worried about the validity of their building permission expiring. The Srinagar Municipal Corporation has extended the validity of building permissions by six months but financial difficulties created by the lockdown have made people postpone their construction plans.
Ali Mohammad, a resident of Khanyar and a shopkeeper by profession, lives with four family members in a small old house which consists of two rooms and a kitchen. After saving money for many years, he decided to build a new concrete house. He applied for building permission at Srinagar Municipal Corporation in 2018 and was granted the same.
“I don’t have a son and I have to do all the work myself. Getting building permission from SMC was a great achievement as due to the road-widening project in our area, it seemed difficult to get the permission,” he told Kashmir Reader.
“The building permission had a three-year validity. I was planning to start construction in 2018 but I suffered losses in my business that year and was not able to begin. After that, in 2019, due to abrogation of Article 370, the construction could not happen,” Ali said.
“Finally, I thought I will start the work in April this year. The winter months are not suitable for construction activity. But then due to the Covid lockdown, a ban was imposed on construction work. Now the building materials are being sold at high prices. A truckload of bricks which cost Rs 20,000 prior to the coronavirus lockdown now costs Rs 30,000-33,000. Same is the case with stones. A truckload of stones cost Rs 3,400 last year but now costs Rs 7,000 to Rs 8,000. The cost of sand has almost doubled. Last season a tipper came at Rs 5,500-6,500 but it is costing Rs 12,000 to Rs 14,000,” he said.
Ali said he cannot afford such expenses and has postponed his plans to next year, but by then his building permission will expire.
“It will be another problem for me as I would have to again go through the entire procedure,” he said.
Ali is just one among scores of families who are worried about the expiry of the building permissions granted to them. Many people in recent weeks have appealed to the Srinagar Municipal Corporation to extend the validity of the permissions in view of the Covid-19 lockdown.
An official at the SMC’s planning department, who wished not to be named, told Kashmir Reader that between April 2019 and March 2020, the SMC granted 11,110 building permissions, which include permissions for residential houses as well as commercial property.
“Due to Covid, no building permission was issued in April and May months this year, nor did anyone approach us for the same. However, since June 1, 70 building permissions have been issued,” the official informed.
The official further said that no order has yet been issued by the SMC to allow construction activity.
SMC Commissioner Ganzanfar Ali said that the validity of permissions which have expired has been extended for the next six months.
The SMC had banned all sorts of construction in March this year, among other measures to contain the novel coronavirus.

NAZIMA SIDIQ