No meetings, no Master Plans; objectives remain unfulfilled
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Sept 17: More than three years after the Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory Government constituted and reconstituted several Development Authorities under the J&K Development Act, 1970, most of these bodies remain dormant as neither meetings have been convened nor Master Plans prepared thereby defeating the very purpose of their creation.
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As per Section 3 of the J&K Development Act, 1970, the Government may constitute a Development Authority for any local area to promote and secure its planned development. The Act further mandates such Authorities to prepare Master Plans after conducting civic surveys, regulate land use, execute engineering works and provide essential civic amenities.
In light of this provision, the Housing and Urban Development Department of the UT of J&K through various notifications issued in the year 2022 constituted and reconstituted several Development Authorities including the Kathua Development Authority, Udhampur Development Authority, Banihal Development Authority and Akhnoor Development Authority among others.
In each notification, several localities were declared as “local areas” under the provisions of the Act. The respective Development Authorities were expected to exercise jurisdiction over these areas with regard to building, engineering and other operations, execution of works relating to water supply and electricity, disposal of sewage and provision of other essential services and amenities.
“However, despite these clear provisions, most of the Authorities constituted in 2022 have neither convened meetings nor initiated any steps to achieve the objectives behind their establishment”, official sources told EXCELSIOR.
They further said, “the Development Authorities were supposed to be the engines of planned growth. Their mandate was vast and ambitious. They were also tasked with ensuring civic services and amenities in their respective jurisdictions. Perhaps the most crucial responsibility was the preparation of Master Plans, which would provide a blueprint for systematic and phased development”.
“These Master Plans were to be based on civic surveys and were expected to regulate land use, identify development zones and prevent the menace of unregulated growth. However, on the ground none of this has happened”, sources said, adding “in most cases, not a single meeting of the Development Authorities has been convened since their constitution in 2022”.
Sources further said, “with no meetings and no decisions, the Authorities have been reduced to mere names in official records. The absence of functional Development Authorities has already had visible consequences. Planned development, which was to be the hallmark of their functioning, has given way to unregulated construction and chaotic urbanization”.
Urban planners and policy experts are openly critical of the paralysis. A retired town planner from Jammu said that constituting Authorities without making them functional was like “building cars without engines.”
Another development analyst described them as “governance showpieces,” created with fanfare in 2022 but left to die in files. Experts warn that the longer this inertia continues, the deeper the region will sink into chaos, with unchecked growth, loss of valuable land, civic disorder and environmental degradation.
They stressed that the Government must immediately convene meetings of all Development Authorities, prepare time-bound Master Plans and launch priority projects such as drainage, sewerage and housing. Regular progress reviews must also be conducted to ensure accountability. Unless the Authorities are activated, the very purpose behind their constitution will remain defeated.
“For now, the Development Authorities of Jammu and Kashmir stand exposed as white elephants of governance – created with much publicity but left inactive and ineffective. They symbolize promises unfulfilled and opportunities wasted”, sources said.
Some of the experts in town planning are of the opinion that instead of constituting these Development Authorities by the Housing and Urban Development Department, stress should have been laid on holistic development of notified areas through the respective Municipal Councils and Municipal Committees, which also function under the administrative control of the department.
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