Rawalpora tenants wade through filth as the department struggles for survival
KD NEWS SERVICE
SRINAGAR, Oct 31:
Once mandated to safeguard properties left behind by those who migrated during Partition, the Custodian Department of Jammu and Kashmir has itself become a victim of decay and neglect. From its derelict residential complexes in Srinagar to its paralyzed administrative machinery, the department is now battling both physical ruin and financial collapse.
At the Rawalpora Evacuee Property Complex, the situation is grim. In Block C, once considered among the better-maintained quarters, the walls are damp, plaster has peeled away, and ceilings leak persistently. The ground floors remain flooded because the septic tanks and soakage pits have not been cleaned for years. The department, residents say, cannot even afford to hire a Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) sucker truck to clear the waste.
Inside the concrete reservoir housing the water tankies, cracks have spread across the slab, letting water stagnate beneath. The tankies float in dirty water, and residents claim rats and insects can be seen inside them. “We’ve found worms and even dead rats in the tank water,” said one tenant. “We have no choice but to use it — the department says it has no funds for repairs.”
Another resident described how unbearable the stench has become. “The soakage pits overflow into our washrooms, and the stench fills our homes. This is supposed to be government accommodation,” he said bitterly.
The department admits it is powerless. Custodian General J&K, Mr. Nawab-ud-Din, who assumed office in June 2025, said, “We have no budgetary provision available for maintenance. The government withheld funds because a former custodian utilized works budgets without administrative approval.”
But according to a senior officer of the Custodian Department, who spoke to Kashmir Despatch on condition of anonymity, the crisis runs far deeper than maintenance. “The department is facing an existential crisis. The government has not given any authorization for the budget for the last many years. Retired employees have not received their leave salaries or pensions. Our staff buys their own stationery — paper, toner, even pens — to keep offices running,” he said.
In a startling revelation, the officer added that the electricity bill of a marriage hall in Srinagar, managed by the department, was recently cleared through donations collected from employees just to get the power supply restored. “Except for the salary component, the government has not released a single rupee of budgetary allocation,” he said.
The officer further pointed out that under the Jammu and Kashmir Evacuees’ Property Act, 2006, a fixed percentage of the revenue earned by the department is legally required to be spent on the upkeep and maintenance of custodian buildings. However, due to the absence of government authorization, even this statutory provision is not being implemented. “The law clearly mandates that maintenance must come from the department’s income, but we are not allowed to spend even that. We are suffocating under our own helplessness,” the officer lamented.
The irony is glaring. The Department of Estates continues to collect rent and house-rent allowance (HRA) from allottees of custodian accommodations, but the Custodian Department receives nothing from that stream for upkeep. “One government wing takes our rent, the other says it has no money to repair our flats. We are caught in between,” said another resident.
Inside the quarters, the conditions are deplorable. Electrical wiring is dangerously outdated, bathroom fittings rusted and broken, and the walls eaten up by moisture. Several small fires caused by short circuits have been reported in recent years. “We buy our own switches, bulbs, even water pipes,” a tenant said. “We can’t wait for a department that says it’s broke.”
Even as the department struggles to pay for cleaning and maintenance, it remains entangled in major land-allotment scandals being probed by multiple agencies. In May 2024, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) registered an FIR against seven persons, including prominent figures, for illegal encroachment of evacuee land in Srinagar. Later, in October 2025, the ACB filed FIR No. 19/2025 at its Srinagar Police Station over the unlawful exchange of 5 kanals and 5 marlas of custodian land at Gupkar Road without required No Objection Certificates.
In August 2025, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided multiple locations in Jammu and Udhampur, seizing incriminating documents linked to the illegal occupation of more than 500 kanals of custodian land. The case exposed a deep nexus of officials and intermediaries allegedly manipulating records to transfer evacuee property into private hands.
These ongoing investigations underscore the tragic irony: while crores’ worth of custodian land have been misused or encroached upon, the department’s own tenants live amid sewage, leaking walls, and contaminated water. “We don’t blame the present custodian; he has inherited a wrecked system,” said one Rawalpora resident. “But our misery is real — no water, no repairs, no sanitation.”
Across Rawalpora, Rajbagh, and Jawahar Nagar, custodian quarters echo the same cry. Buildings crumble, water tanks fester, and sewage floods homes. Even the department’s employees — unpaid, overworked, and stripped of resources — have lost faith. “How can we serve the public when we can’t even buy paper for our offices?” the senior officer asked.
For the families who still live in these quarters, the demand is simple — clean water, working lights, and a sense of dignity. “We pay rent, we serve the government, but we live like refugees in our own homes,” a tenant said quietly. “Is that the legacy the Custodian Department wants to preserve?”
