Srinagar, Aug 21 (PTI) The Jammu and Kashmir administration has sanctioned over three acres of land in favour of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) in the city for construction a 'Yatri Niwas' on lease for 40 years for an annual rent of Rs 250, according to an order issued by Revenue Department on Friday.

The new facility, coming up at Pantha Chowk here, would be built in 18 months and will accommodate more than 3,000 pilgrims.

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"Sanction is hereby accorded to the grant of land measuring 25 kanal situated at village Panthachowk, district Srinagar, in favour of the SASB for construction of office and Yatri Niwas on lease basis for a period of 40 years from the date of taking over the possession on payment of nominal ground rent of Rs 10 per kanal per annum without charge of any premium subject to the condition that the land shall be used only for the purpose for which it is granted," the order read.

The deputy commissioner of Srinagar has been directed to sign the lease agreement on behalf of the government with the SASB.

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Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on August 6 had laid foundation stone for the 'Yatri Niwas' and office of the SASB.

In 2008, allotment of nearly 100 acres of forest land near the Amarnath cave shrine in Sonamarg area of Ganderbal district had led to massive protests across Kashmir.

Several persons were killed in Kashmir, while in Jammu a counter agitation had started in support of the decision to transfer land to the SASB.

The decision to transfer the land had caused a split in the PDP-Congress coalition then, which ultimately led to the resignation of Ghulam Nabi Azad as chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir.

The nearly five month agitation in Kashmir ended only after the then Governor N N Vohra revoked the land transfer order.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)