SRINAGAR: In a bid to promote tourism and other developmental activities in Srinagar around 139.04 acres of defence land at Tatoo ground, Batamaloo has been transferred to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in this regard was signed by the Ministry of Defence with the Ministry of Home Affairs through the Jammu and Kashmir government today. Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha presided over the MoU signing ceremony at Raj Bhawan, in Srinagar.
The MoD was represented through the Local Military Authority of Tattoo Ground Garrison and Defence Estate Officer Kashmir Circle Srinagar.
The 139.04 acres of defence land will be handed over by the Ministry of Defence to MHA within a period of four months.
Lt Governor Sinha termed the MoU as a momentous occasion in developing major tourism space in J&K UT.
In 2015, the then J&K government headed by the late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had taken over 136 kanals of land from the army at Tattoo Ground, Batamaloo for establishing a citizen Park.
The then Mufti government had been asking the army to vacate about 1,000 kanals of the prime land at Tattoo Ground. In 2015, after a civil-military liaison conference chaired by the late Mufti Sayeed, the army had agreed to vacate 136 kanals of land to the then J&K government.
Meanwhile, the Lt Governor administration has approved sanction for the transfer of State land measuring 757 Kanal 6 Marla at village Rakh Buran, Singhpora in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district in favour of the Ministry of Defence in exchange for Equal Value Land (EVL) in Tattoo Ground Srinagar on no profit no loss basis in terms of Rule-310 of GFR 2017.
“The land shall be the part of the EVL of the land for which sanction was conveyed by MoD vide No.A/51120/Q3L (North)/181/31/S/ D(Lands) dated 22nd February 1990 and the Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir in consultation with defence authorities shall work out the actual value of the land on EVL basis at all locations,” reads an official order.
