Fayaz Bukhari
Srinagar, May 19: The posh residential Colonies in Srinagar have become commercial hubs as the permissions given by the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) for construction of residential houses have been grossly violated.
According to the SMC data, the Corporation has given 563 permissions for construction of residential houses in Jawahar Nagar, Karan Nagar, Rajbagh and Balgarden areas of Srinagar between October 2014 and March 2016.
Out of 563 permissions, 220 have been given in Jawahar Nagar with 215 on fast track basis for those whose houses were damaged in floods and 5 online permissions.
In Karan Nagar out of 63 residential permissions, 60 were given on fast track basis for flood victims and 3 were given online. In Rajbagh out of 195 residential permissions, 176 were given on fast track basis for flood victims and 19 were given online. In Balgarden out of 85 residential permissions, 83 were given on fast track basis for flood victims and two were given online.
In all these posh areas which are meant for residential purposes, big malls, shopping complexes, hotels and restaurants have come up despite the fact that SMC has not given a single commercial permission in these areas. However, SMC has not stopped any of these residents from violating the building permissions.
Majority of 75,000 houses that were damaged in September 2014 deluge in Srinagar are from these areas. As per the data, SMC has given permission for the construction of around 1100 houses.
The illegal commercial constructions in the residential areas of Srinagar city is leading to massive traffic jams as the illegally constructed complexes have no scope for car parking and the shoppers park the cars on roads.
The Joint Commissioner Planning SMC says that the Corporation does not give any commercial permission as these are residential areas. He said that the locals have some problems and they construct commercial complexes illegally and added that SMC does not encourage it.
The JCP said that the Srinagar Master Plan dates back to 2001 and it can’t serve the current needs of the population. He said that there is need of commercial spaces in these areas which the present Master plan lacks. He, however, said the new plan will address these problems in these residential areas.
The SMC official described the Master Plan as archival as it lacks the modern requirements. He said that in the Master Plan there is no mention of Cell Phone towers but it is now need of the hour and everywhere there are towers and the Master Plan needs revisit.
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