JMC enforcement staff didn’t take action against owner as per JMC Act 2000 , the owner not only completed slab work on first and second floors as commercial halls in Dec 2024-Jan 2025 on RCC pillars at par with existing violated ground floor covering nearly 2500 sqft and also raised unauthorized 3rd floor measuring nearly 15×60 (900 sqft ) and also galleries upto third floor besides completely renovating existing ground floor not as per affidavit produced by him before start of further construction like constructing partition walls, porch and also remove violations from backside but owner instead constructed totally commercial construction in shape of halls without any partition wall when violations on ground floor needs to be demolished as the owner didn’t abide by submitted undertaking to remove violations before start of further construction
Building Officer Kapil Khajuria, Senior Town Planner JMC Manoj Kumar recommended fresh construction of two floors ignoring existing violations vide No.813/JMC/BS/2024-25 dated 28-11-2024 without mentioning area whether in sqm or sqft allowing owner existing as per the norms basement-1 residential measuring 45.2 NA, existing as per norms ground floor residential 29.22 NA, new floor residential measuring 163 NA, new floor 2nd residential 163 NA. The owner was mandatory to observe setbacks including front 4.84 mtr, Rear-3.55 mtr and Side-1, 2 mtr (left side) but owner didn’t raise construction as per approved site plan
When shuttering work on unauthorized third floor was going on , JMC served owner fresh notice under section 253(1), JMC Act 2000 on 8-3-2025 read with Unified Building Bye-laws 2021(Section 2.11) hiding actual violations as mentioned above wherein three commercial halls without any partition walls on three floors. This notice again proved mere eyewash on part of JMC to save their skin and just for record sake as aggrieved locals along with pictures informed that construction work is going on with laborers working and their lunch boxes lying on wall
GY CORRESPONDENT
JAMMU, MAR 10
One Satpal Khajuria s/o Charan Dass owner of corner residential plot 66/5 measuring 40×80 (3200 Sqft ) on main road of Channi Himmat Housing Board colony, Ward-50 in the year 2010-2011 constructed violated commercial hall on ground floor measuring 2500 sqft with unauthorized basement backside which was not permitted then prevailing under JMP-2021 with two shops provision in the backside towards internal road which was to kept open without any walls partition and actually a commercial hall on RCC Pillars besides also extending gallery 2.5 ft towards right side on internal road without maintaining mandatory setbacks by leaving backside 3 ft against 10 ft, Side-1 was completely covered under construction which was to be left nearly 6.5 ft and constructed porch towards 65/5 residential plot and raised stairs going through porch area. But JMC didn’t take any action against owner and remained mum on serious nature violations. The owner also managed to get free hold rights from Housing Board vide JKHB Order No.201 of 2018 dated 13-7-2018 after paying Rs 64000 as fee when there was commercial construction on residential plot. Despite serious violations, JMC didn’t take any action against owner.
The owner after gap of nearly 11 years initially without getting fresh side plan approved from JMC started further construction from 16-8- 2024 on existing violated ground floor. However under public pressure when aggrieved locals resented ongoing violated construction, Dy Commissioner South served owner notice under section 253 (1) of JMC Act 2000 vide No. JMC/DC(S)/Enf/251-54 dated 14-10-2024 claiming that owner has started construction of first floor without valid permission from JMC without observing mandatory setbacks as per JMC Act 2000, UBBL-2021 and thus serving owner 48 hours ultimatum to reply to this notice failing which action as warranted as per JMC act 2000 read with read with Unified Building Bye-laws 2021(Section 2.11) will be initiated against owner and also to stop ongoing unauthorized construction. This proved mere oral warning and no action taken against owner for raising violated construction without JMC permission which deserved to be demolished once it came to notice of JMC but sadly same was not done after shaking hands with owner. The owner didn’t reply to this notice within 48 hours and infect in active connivance with concerned JMC officials hatched a conspiracy that proposed site plan file under application No. JMC/2024/7596 dated 18-4-2024 on the basis of which NOCs were sanctioned is missing.
As usual , JMC in order to save violated construction instead of taking action against owner rather suggested owner to apply fresh permission following which the owner applied for fresh site plan vide application No. JMC/2024/8534 dated 27-10-2024 and Building section team led by Senior Town planner Manoj Kumar and Building Officer Kapil Khajuria visited the site and recommended further construction after recommending existing violated construction on ground floor including violated basement as per norms completely ignoring existing violations of serious nature after shaking hands with owner to secure his existing violated construction and also allowing further construction against JMP-2032 and Unified Building Bye-laws 2021 surprisingly after earlier rejecting site plan of owner due to existing violations but later approved when existing violations were not removed by owner.
It deserves mentioning here that the JMC sought from owner written undertaking on affidavit dated 27-11-2024 before approving his fresh site plan for construction of first and 2nd floors that he would demolish the violated portion of existing basement, ground floor before start of fresh construction and also put partition walls on existing ground floor and the violated portion including violations towards left side and backside to be demolished by owner.
After taking undertaking from owner , Senior Town Planner JMC Manoj Kumar, Building Officer Kapil Khajuria, who are chips of same block recommended fresh construction of two floors ignoring existing violations vide No.813/JMC/BS/2024-25 dated 28-11-2024 without mentioning area whether in sqm or sqft allowing owner existing as per the norms basement-1 residential measuring 45.2 sqm, existing as per norms ground floor residential 29.22 Sqm, new floor residential measuring 163 sqm, new floor 2nd residential 163 sqm. The owner was mandatory to observe setbacks including front 4.84 mtr, Rear-3.55 mtr and Side-1, 2 mtr (left side).The height of building was fixed 10.38 mtr from front road level and accordingly paid Rs 51095 as building fee residential.
In this site plan stairs were shown towards right side towards front side and lift in parallel position and in this way modified drawing of existing violated ground floor. However violations which were to be removed from left and backside by owner marked in green colour but surprisingly the drawing in approved site plan was missing as there was no mention of drawing room, stairs and lift when infect there were two shops towards backside. Anyway the owner didn’t demolish existing violations on basement and ground floor and constructed first and 2nd floor commercial halls measuring nearly 2500 Sqft in Nov-Dec-2024 on existing violated basement and ground floor without maintaining mandatory setbacks especially from backside and also didn’t construct partition walls on ground floor neither on first floor nor on 2nd floor and infect constructed three commercial halls. Moreover fresh site plan was wrongly approved in favour of owner as residential basement is prohibited under ULLB-2021 besides it is extended to all four walls of building leaving 10 ft from all four sides but in present case it was allowed only from backside and out of way regularized unauthorized basement claiming basement was constructed as per Jammu Master Plan 2021 which was not allowed came into force through Order No. 263 dated August 9, 2004 when JMP-2032 came into force on 3-3-2017.
In spite of serious violations as mentioned above, JMC enforcement staff didn’t take action against owner as per JMC Act 2000 , the owner not only completed slab work on first and second floors as commercial halls in Dec 2024-Jan 2025 on RCC pillars at par with existing violated ground floor covering nearly 2500 sqft and also raised unauthorized 3rd floor measuring nearly 15×60 (900 sqft ) and also galleries upto third floor besides completely renovating existing ground floor not as per affidavit produced by him before start of further construction like constructing partition walls, porch and also remove violations from backside but owner instead constructed totally commercial construction in shape of halls without any partition wall when violations on ground floor needs to be demolished as the owner didn’t abide by submitted undertaking to remove violations before start of further construction.
Further the owner can’t be allowed basement in Channi Himmat Housing Board colony as this residential plot being in row housing and also it is mandatory on part of owner to leave at least 10 ft from all sides of basement which was not done in the present case which simply means basement was constructed unauthorized as per ULLB-2021 under section 5.2.2.1, clause VII under National Building code but JMC Building Section wrongly approved and granted residential basement measuring 45.2 NA. Anyway despite making every possible efforts to awake JMC to take cognizance of ongoing violated construction by aggrieved locals, nothing substantial was done at the site and as a result of which with all exiting violations intact, and the violated construction reached 3rd floor beyond approved site plan as no permission was given to owner to raise third floor.
It deserves mentioning here that when shuttering work on unauthorized third floor was going on , JMC served owner fresh demolition notice under section 253(1), JMC Act 2000 on 8-3-2025 read with Unified Building Bye-laws 2021(Section 2.11) hiding actual violations as mentioned above wherein three commercial halls without any partition walls on three floors . This notice again proved mere eyewash on part of JMC to save their skin and just for record sake as aggrieved locals along with pictures informed that construction work is still going on with laborers working and their lunch boxes lying on wall despite serving notice to owner .
Notwithstanding new govt in J&K, the old routine practice of Enforcement wing of Jammu Municipal Corporation to patronize illegal constructions by smartly playing on the name of issuance of notice under 253(1) ,254 of JMC Act 2000 read with Unified Building Bye-laws 2021(Section 2.11) have once again resumed an alarming proportion which raised question marks on the functioning of higher ups in JMC especially Dy Commissioner South incharge Enforcement wing South area of Jammu city. It is heart-breaking to note that despite this newspaper published hundreds of stories highlighting unauthorized constructions with pictures but sadly only cosmetic action taken against violators and as a result of which the violations highlighted by this newspaper are by and large are still intact which in turn encouraging potential and influential violators to dare to raise unauthorized constructions against approved site plans ,ULLB-2021 and JMP-2032.
