JMC’s building laws go for a toss
GY CORRESPONDENT
JAMMU, MAR 16
Close on the heels of a fake demolition drive by the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) to soothe public anger, work on a commercial structure resumed today in Shastri Nagar, a residential locality.It may be recalled here that following public outcry, the JMC, on March 4, had conducted a fake demolition drive to stall a commercial construction at plot number 29-C Shastri Nagar in the temple City.
The construction work remained suspended for around 12 days.
However, the landlord KK Lakhanpal resumed construction today.
The unauthorised and illegal commercial construction had been going on for the past four months but it was suspended on March 4 following public outcry.
“The resumption of work clearly shows the land owner greased palms of the JMC officials,” said a resident of the locality, who pleaded anonymity.
There is no dearth of rules, by-laws, and statutory provisions that govern the conduct of construction activities in 75 wards of the Jammu Municipal Corporation.
However, illegal construction activities go on full throttle in planned colonies under Jammu Development Authority (JDA).
These illegal constructions were rampant in Channi Himmat, Gandhi Nagar and Shastri Nagar Housing Board colonies.
Primary reason behind rampant illegal construction was attributed to high cost of land in Shastri Nagar and huge demand for offices and commercial space for running their businesses.
Unfortunately, JMC’s enforcement staff has largely favoured the violators for obvious reasons.
In most of the cases, enforcement staff just did a superficial exercise to hoodwink general public, that too, under extreme public pressure.
‘Golden Yug’ has been relentless in exposing corrupt and unethical practices by the JMC officials in connivance with moneyed and influential people.
After thorough investigations and going through relevant records, Golden Yug published a detailed story in its columns on February 21.
In the instant case the owner of residential plot 29-C at Shastri Nagar has started violated the building laws with impunity going for a commercial construction in a residential locality.
JMC’s enforcement inspector Shahnawaz’s also played a biased role in the so-called demolition drive on March 4 when he removed few bricks with his bare hands before returning.
The locals had informed Golden Yug about what unfolded at the construction site in the name of demolition drive.
This correspondent along with cameraman visited the site and found claims of the locals true.
While unauthorized construction has been ongoing for the past four months, JMC’s response has been limited to a mere token action—removing a few bricks from one of the walls—without issuing the necessary notices under the JMC Act 2000 and Unified Building Bye-laws (UBBL)-2021.
Despite being informed through an official letter from the Deputy General Manager, JMC failed to act against the illegal construction of three commercial shops on a plot whose three-year site plan validity had expired. The owner originally obtained building approval on 26-11-2018, but started construction nearly six years later, violating JMC regulations. Instead of enforcing demolition as per the Uniform Policy of the J&K Housing Board, JMC allowed the construction to progress under its “pick and choose” policy, favoring certain violators while ignoring legal protocols.
Had JMC issued a BOCA demolition notice when the print media first exposed the illegal construction—publishing photographic evidence on 22-10-2024, 31-12-2024, and 21-2-2025—the owner would not have dared to continue building unauthorized commercial structures. However, over the past four months, the construction has continued intermittently, facilitated by JMC officials who have ensured only minor disruptions to allow steady progress. The illegal structure, now covering 2700 sq. ft., has reached near slab level with RCC pillars intact.
KK Lakhanpal, son of Amarnath Lakhanpal, was allotted residential plot 29-C in Shastri Nagar by the J&K Housing Board on 23-6-1983 under the Chief Minister’s discretionary quota at Rs. 2.35 per sq. ft. The approved site plan from JMC on 26-11-2018 allowed a double-story residential building with 45% coverage.
However, Lakhanpal bifurcated the plot into two parts (2700 sq. ft. each) before construction, violating the approved plan. He constructed a double-story residential house on one portion, adjoining house 30-C. The second half, facing the main road, was left open for potential commercial use—completely deviating from the sanctioned site plan. JMC failed to act against this deviation at the time.
Later, the owner illegally sold the second portion through a Power of Attorney without obtaining a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Housing Board. This was reported by aggrieved locals to the Housing Board, prompting a letter from the Deputy General Manager, Housing Board Unit-II, Jammu, on 18-10-2024, to the Joint Commissioner, JMC, highlighting the unauthorized sale and ongoing illegal construction.
The J&K Housing Board had already stopped construction on 4-5-2024, yet unauthorized commercial work resumed. The Deputy General Manager requested JMC to act under UBBL-2021, but JMC ignored the matter, allegedly due to its officials’ collusion with the owner.
