JAMMU: Residents have raised concern over mushrooming of illegal restaurants in grave violation of municipal byelaws on narrow and busy Amphalla-Palace Road opposite SSP Traffic Jammu office in ward number nine.
Complaining about mushrooming of restaurants on ever busy Amphalla-Palace road, Rajeev Gupta, a resident of Karan Nagar told JK Global News “Without requisite permission from Jammu Municipal Corporation the restaurants are keeping opening in violation of JMC bye laws”.
Blaming the JMC authorities as well as Traffic department for being apathetic towards the safety of pedestrians another resident of Karan Nagar namely Shankar Dass said “The movement of pedestrians which is already facing difficulty in free movement have been further compounded by visitors to these newly opened restaurant who parked their vehicles on the road and exposed the passersby especially aged to risk of being hit by moving vehicles”. The silence of traffic officials’ especially senior officers who frequently used this route is mind lowing, he added.
Pointing towards recently opened Restaurant ‘House of Cuisines’ on Palace road, a resident of nearby Ustad Mohalla Munish Mehra said that this restaurant draws big crowd and surprisingly it was allowed to opened without having provision for parking of a single scooter leaves aside car. This only indicts involvement of concerned JMC officers with the owner of illegal restaurant, avers Mehra.
Reliable sources in JMC reveal that prior to opening of restaurant, the owners need to seek NOC which cannot be issued if premises lacks approved commercial building plan besides necessary parking. Stating that the owner of restaurant ‘House of Cuisines’ have applied for NOC through online mood but the facts remains that there is a nexus of crook officials in JMC which allow mushrooming of such illegal establishments after settling hefty deals on the name of senior JMC officers. Even in some cases, in past fake NOC were issued to some establishments to cover up their land use violation, reveal sources.
Even several hotels were recently allowed to start operation after converting their residential structure into commercial without approved plan as well as NOC. Most of these illegal hotels and restaurants claimed that they got permission to run their establishments from the JMC. But, we keep wondering as to how Revenue wing of JMC can give any such permission in a residential area,” complained another resident of Ustad Mohalla Rocky Gill.
When contacted, Rahul Yadav, Commissioner JMC, maintained that he will enquire about the matter and necessary action under rules will be initiated against the restaurant if it has started operation without fulfilling the laid down norms.