Sub Divisional Magistrate Pl Shah has given notice to working agency to stop the construction work at Ramlila Ground road till the map of the work is approved.
A notice has been served to Pauri municipal council to stop the construction of roof above this road. The agency undertaking construction works on the collectorate building in jail garden and the community centre in Kandoliya in the district headquarter Pauri has also been told to submit the map of required construction. The construction of the new Collectorate building and community centre has been stopped by the working agency- Public Works Department.
Pauri and Srinagar town in the district are under the preview of regulatory area authority and any private or government building can be constructed only after its map is approved by the authority. However, only one junior engineer is presently posted to look into this in Pauri and Srinagar. The SDM Pl Shah told The Pioneer that on the complaints received by the authority notices had been served to municipal board, the working agency of new collectorate and community centre building to stop the further construction and submit the map for required sanction. Shah said that when the authority receives the map, it will be ascertained whether the land ownership is valid.
Municipal board executive officer Arun Barthwal said that the Ramlila Ground road is being covered with a permanent roof to facilitate parking facility here. The cost of the roof construction will be Rs 11.5 lakh. However, the Kotwali police visited this site on Tuesday and ordered a stop on the construction. The general public here is questioning the logic behind covering a public road.
The Ramlila Ground is used as the venue for most political gatherings, Ramlila performance, Autumn festival and other events. Covering the road to the ground with a roof might encourage anti-social elements to hang around here and the covered road might also be encroached upon by people setting stalls here, fear the locals who want the partially constructed roof to be demolished.