HC SEEKS ADMIN RESPONSE OVER TOKEN SYSTEM IN MOUNT ABU

JODHPUR: The Rajasthan High Court has sought the response of Sirohi district administration on a petition challenging the token system implemented for rationing of building materials at Mount Abu, the state’s only hill station.

The petition was filed a hotel association of Mount Abu. After hearing the plea, Justice Dr Pushpendra Singh Bhati issued notices to the district collector, sub-divisional officer and municipal board in Sirohi.

The petitioner’s counsel, Shreyansh Mardia told the court that the petitioner has filed the petition being aggrieved by and dissatisfied with the present token system to obtain permission for construction activities whereby inordinate delays are faced by the residents of Mount Abu for even simple repairs.

He said that the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on June 25, 2009, notified Mount Abu as an ecosensitive zone with the objective of conserving and protecting the area from ecological and environmental point of view.

According to the notification, a zonal master plan (ZMP) was to be prepared within two years and till the preparation of such ZMP, the monitoring committee was supposed to discharge all the functions specified in the notification, including giving permission to raise new construction as well as for other development activities including additions, alterations, demolitions, repairs, renovations and restorations of buildings.

The petition stated that the ZMP was not prepared in time and also various applications were filed at various forums. As such the matter kept pending and the monitoring committee was re-constituted on various occasions and was last re-constituted in 2015 for a period of 2 years. “The monitoring committee devised a token system and rationing of building material in order to grant permission for all construction activities in the area, including basic repair and maintenance. However, the token system and rationing of building material was not warranted under any notification or statute. The token system creates delay in the process of obtaining permission for even basic repair and renovation activities,” Mardia added.

“The ZMP was notified in 2015 and the Building Bylaws also came into existence thereby dissolving the monitoring committee. However, the token system and the rationing of building material still exists, due to which the residents of Mount Abu are facing problems,” he said.