Planned expansion

Kashmir is fast becoming a hotchpotch of unplanned constructions with hardly any urban or semi-urban space being developed in a planner manner. The speed and manner in which these constructions are taking place is phenomenal. It is almost as if the housing and urban development department has completely shut its eyes to the ugly spread of this concrete jungle. While one understands that cities eating up into the rural belt is one of the necessary facets of the modern living, the least that the concerned authorities in Kashmir could do is allow this expansion in a proper way. The inclusion of green spaces, playing fields, parks, and proper air and ventilation spaces seem to be way down the list of priorities as these unplanned constructions take place. In many areas in Srinagar, for instance, playgrounds, of which we have a lot of dearth, too have been turned into residential colonies. According to official data, Srinagar city has 169 parks covering about 287 hectares against a minimum standard of 570 hectares provided in the Urban and Regional Development Plans Formulation and Implementation (URDPFI) guidelines, 2015.  There seems an apparent rift between the Srinagar Smart City plan, which is silent on increasing the green cover, and the Draft Master Plan, which foresees the construction of 860 parks between 2015 and 2035. The situation remains so even though there are five government establishments– Floriculture, Srinagar Municipal Corporation, Srinagar Development Authority, J&K Housing Board, Landscape Division of Roads & Building Department, directly responsible for the development and maintenance of public parks. The apathy to the issue continues in apparent defiance of Court directions as well. In 2016, Justice (Retd) Bilal Nazki wrote a letter to the then Chief Justice J&K High court pointing out the lack of green spaces in Srinagar. Treating the letter as a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), a division bench of Justice Ramalingam Sudhakar and Justice M K Hanjura, in December 2017, directed the J&K government to set up and implement an action plan for enhancing green space of the capital city. Almost a year later, on September 15 2018, the Court, however, observed that there was hardly any improvement in the creation of green spaces in the city. Justice Gita Mittal then questioned the state’s government’s response that Rs 64 lakh had been released for development of green spaces in Srinagar, asking where the money had been spent. It is 2021 now and there hardly seems to be any development in this matter as more and more construction take place with Srinagar and other urban and semi-urban areas further turning into a maze of unplanned constructions. The concerned authorities need to wake up from their deep slumber and ensure that any construction happening in these areas, apart from having the required permissions, adds to the aesthetics and the overall planning and development of that area. Urban development and modern construction are complex processes. As such the concerned departments should use the best minds to ensure that modern housing locations need to be planned, eye-catching, and environment friendly.