Anantnag: Another petrol pump is nearing completion, in close proximity to NH-44 and amidst agricultural land, soon after the first one was constructed last year, though the administration has been quite vocal about not allowing any construction in the vicinity of the highway.
Last year, a petrol pump came up in Gaelandar area of Pampore, here in Pulwama district, and the new one is being constructed a few kilometres ahead, towards Srinagar.
Kashmir Reader had reported last year that a petrol pump was being constructed in Gaelandar area, in violation of the norms. The administration looked the other way, even as officials back then passed the buck around. The petrol pump is functional now.
“The officials are doing the exact same this time around as well. No one is ready to take responsibility,” sources in the administration told Kashmir Reader.
After the NH-44 was thrown open to traffic, the government had decided to not allow any construction within 100-metres of the highway.
However, construction has continued right under the nose of the administration. Beyond some demolitions and visits by officials to “take stock of the situation”, nothing concrete has been done to stop this illegal construction.
“These two petrol pumps, within less than 3 kilometres of each other, are a glaring example of how officials have failed to implement what was being said and propagated,” the source in the administration said.
The source said that the higher-ups were well aware of the constructions but the offenders have patronage from quarters running the show in Kashmir right now.
Kashmir Reader talked to Dr Baseer-ul-Haq, Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Pulwama district, who maintained that it was the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) which permits or disallows the installation of certain “utilities” along the highway.
“We only oversee the process and check whether the land actually belongs to the person in question or not. We have no say in providing permissions in these cases,” Haq told this reporter.
He also said that this second petrol pump being constructed was outside the jurisdiction of Pulwama district. “It either falls in the Srinagar limits or that of Budgam district,” he said.
The NHAI authorities, however, negated what Haq had to say. “We only provide permission for the access way to any structure. The building permission is granted by the district administration, if I am not mistaken,” Project Director NHAI Srinagar, Indresh Kumar, told Kashmir Reader.
The officials are passing around the buck again as offenders continue with what they have set out to do.

Suhail A Shah