On the famous bund running parallel to the Residency Road in the city, the municipal demolition squads had a tough time when the local National Conference MLA Mohammad Shafi Bhat appeared on the scene and started objecting to the demolition of some shops. These shops, for which no building permission had been obtained, were owned by Mosque Committee of Masjid-e-Bilal.
The National Conference MLA forced the demolition squad to retreat. Ansari is reported to have taken up the matter with the Chief Minister, who is believed to have given full support to Ansari for cleansing the city of illegal constructions.
Before the outbreak of militancy in the valley, the usual practice for protecting an unauthorised structure used to be the hoisting of a party flag over such structures.
In its plans to restore the famous Dal Lake to its original grandeur, the Urban Development Department proposes to demolish over sixty thousand illegal structures that have come up in and around the Lake. Most of the unauthorised shops in the heart of the city and on prime land here have been constructed under the blessings of premier militant outfits during the last seven years. All such shops and business establishments are facing a demolition threat at the hands of the Urban Development Minister. Some of such establishments are multi-storeyed, housing upbeat departmental stores.
The demolition task is going to be gigantic, keeping in view the fact that around Srinagar By-Pass Road alone nearly twenty thousand residential houses and shopping complexes have come up. If this is the situation on the uptown part of the city, the situation downtown is far worse.
Whether or not the new government can carry out its demolition task downtown could prove to be an acid test given the fact the area is still infested with militants.
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The owners of most of such unauthorised shops have already started canvassing for sympathy with the National Conference. Ironically, a key role in providing such sympathy is being played by disgruntled National Conference leaders, who recently failed in getting themselves a berth in the ministry.
The sympathisers of such constructions have started a tirade against he urban development minister. They are saying that Ansari's personal property, housing the offices of the Jet Airlines in Srinagar, is also an illegal constructions. Charity must being at home, they say. Ansari should have set an example by razing his own illegal property first, says one shopkeeper whose shop was brought down.