Srinagar, Jan 09: Srinagar residents have flagged delays in building approvals, alleging that the Housing and Urban Development Department’s online building permission portal has remained non-functional since December 1, 2025, the day the government notified amendments to the Jammu and Kashmir Unified Building Bye-Laws, 2021.
The amended rules require all building permissions, right from submission of plans to scrutiny, approval, inspections and occupancy certificates to be processed exclusively through the online portal. Residents said the continued inaccessibility of the system has stalled fresh applications as well as pending cases.
Arham Chowdary, a Srinagar resident, told Rising Kashmir that the shutdown has left applicants uncertain. “The bye-laws were approved on December 1, and from that very day, the online building permission portal was suspended. People ready to apply or waiting for approvals are suffering,” he said.
Another resident, Fuzail Bhat, said there has been no clarity from the authorities. “There is no official word on when the portal will resume or whether any alternative arrangement is in place. People are visiting offices, but answers are not forthcoming,” he said.
Under the revised bye-laws, applications must be routed through registered architects or engineers and are to be automatically scrutinised for compliance with planning norms such as plot size, setbacks, height and parking. Residents said the portal’s unavailability has effectively frozen the process.
When contacted, the Commissioner Secretary, Housing and Urban Development Department, was not available for comments.
Residents appealed to government to issue clarification and a definite timeline for restoring the portal to avoid prolonged disruption to construction activity in the city.
Shafat Malik
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