Bilal Ur Rehman
Pahalgam, May 17: While India mourns the brutal killing of 26 innocent tourists in Pahalgam—a tragedy that left the nation shaken to its core—the very soil still moist with their blood has become the site of an unimaginable betrayal. As families across the country grapple with grief, and security forces scan mountains for threats, another kind of attack is underway: an assault on law, conscience, and accountability.
In the jurisdiction of the Pahalgam Development Authority (PDA), large-scale illegal construction is being carried out in brazen daylight. Trucks full of concrete, workers laying fresh slabs, and bulldozers humming louder than the wails of the nation. According to sources, hundreds of unauthorised structures are being raised or renovated—ironically, under the smokescreen of the tragedy itself.
A highly placed former official, who was transferred three months ago under political pressure, revealed to Awami Reporter that the reshuffle within the PDA was orchestrated to build a “compliant lobby” inside the department. “The transfers were made on the direct instructions of a political leader to create a chain of loyal officers. This lobby is now enabling hotel mafias and land violators with full protection,” he disclosed.
One of the biggest violators is reportedly a well-known hotelier, a close relative of a senior National Conference (NC) leader. Locals and officials alike accuse him of rampant illegal construction huge violations in the renovation permission which the hotelier claims he was granted. One more a national Conference supporters has rebuild shops on state land, flouting building permissions, and manipulating the regulatory framework to extend commercial empires deep into the ecologically fragile zone. “The very people entrusted with protecting Pahalgam are the ones dismantling it, brick by brick,” said a PDA insider who wished to remain anonymous. He has also massively carried huge construction violating his permission which was grated by BOCA, he added.
Political activist Dr. Sandeep Mawa, who has been vocal against corruption in Jammu and Kashmir, was blunt in his condemnation. “When the whole country is bleeding, they are busy minting money. Pahalgam has become a construction festival for the rich and well-connected. This is moral decay at its worst,” he said.
Meanwhile, Danish Nabi Bhat, a young RTI activist who has filed multiple applications seeking details of illegal constructions and violations, says the administration is deliberately stonewalling him. “On one pretext or another, they keep delaying information. I have filed RTIs, reminders, and appeals. Still no reply. Is this transparency?” he asked.
Even more heartbreaking is the voice of the common Kashmiri. A poor local resident from the Laripora belt of Pahalgam shared that he has been trying for eight years to repair a leaking roof over his two-room house. “I don’t have a political godfather. I cannot bribe the PDA. That’s why I’m not allowed even to patch my roof, while palatial hotels come up overnight on forest land,” he said with teary eyes.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has reportedly visited the area multiple times. When Awami Reporter contacted SSP ACB Manzoor Ahmad, he confirmed that visits were part of an ongoing investigation and that two FIRs have already been filed. However, he declined to share specifics citing confidentiality.
But civil society remains unconvinced. “What is ACB doing when illegal construction is happening in broad daylight?” asked Danish Nabi Bhat. “Are these visits meant to serve justice, or just optics? Why does ACB only go after poor patwaris and not the political cronies building hotels on forest land? I urge Director ACB, who has a clean reputation, to intervene directly and ensure that this time, the hammer falls on the real culprits.”
The former PDA CEO, Masrat Hashim, had reportedly issued over 300 demolition and stop-work notices, many of which were torn down or ignored. His departure, sources say, cleared the way for unchecked violations. The new CEO had promised action, but no visible progress has been made. Instead, insiders allege that files are being buried and violators emboldened.
Even as Pahalgam lies scarred by violence, its hills and rivers are now being scarred by corruption. The same air that carried the last breaths of the victims now carries the dust of illegal cement. And the same officials who swore to protect the Valley’s soul have become mute spectators—or worse, collaborators.
If this is how we honour our dead, what future can the living.
