Srinagar: Former Srinagar Mayor Junaid Azim Mattu has leveled serious allegations of large-scale corruption and institutional malpractice within the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC), claiming that the civic body has become a hub of illegal constructions, systematic bribery, and administrative failure.
Mattu said he was speaking “with complete responsibility and conviction” about what he described as an unprecedented wave of unauthorized building activity taking place under the current SMC setup. “Never before in the recent past has there been such a rampant spree of illegal, unauthorized constructions in Srinagar. It is a free-for-all, rates have been established per slab, and deviations of 20% from issued permissions are considered ‘minimal,” he said.
Junaid Azim Mattu alleged that in certain administrative wards, Ward Officers and Building Inspectors were earning “around Rs 20 lakh a month in bribes,” adding that the city has 35 such wards. “There are wards where Sanitary Supervisors have become millionaires in two years and assumed the role of building inspectors, openly mediating rates for illegal constructions,” Mattu claimed.
He further pointed to another dimension of what he called “institutionalized malpractice,” saying that thousands of revenue registrations have been issued to commercial establishments operating from residential houses or buildings without proper permissions. “This practice has rendered the very purpose and intent of the Master Plan redundant,” he said, terming SMC’s disclaimer, that revenue registrations do not entail building permission rights, as “ultra vires and legally untenable.”
According to Mattu, the number of illegal construction cases reaching the SMC Enforcement Wing is at a “record high.” He alleged that the civic body’s modus operandi involves permitting illegal constructions, issuing cosmetic notices, and creating a “legal fig leaf” to justify and protect corruption.
“Illegal commercial constructions which were sealed and kept under check during my tenure are now being completed without renewed permissions or regularization, in broad daylight,” Mattu said. He accused the current Enforcement Officer of creating a “smokescreen of selective honesty” behind which such activities continue “nonchalantly.”
Mattu warned that unless immediate corrective action is taken, Srinagar could soon face an irreversible urban crisis. “Somebody somewhere should get a grip and realize the severity and extent of this historic scandal before this city turns into a slum,” he cautioned. [KNT]
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