*No time-frame yet fixed for completion of exercise
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, July 24: Notwithstanding Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti’s serious concern over the persistent delay in finalization of the Revised Master Plan for Jammu, dilly-dallying approach continues to create hurdle in sending the document to all the relevant quarters so as to pave the way for its final approval and subsequent implementation.
The first Master Plan for Jammu was approved in 1978 for a period of 20 years from 1974-1994. This Master Plan had inherent drawbacks of time span and its approval in 1978 created a planning vaccum of four years. On account of host of issues, the plan failed to yield the intended objectives.
The life span of the first Master Plan expired in 1994 and JDA though initiated the process of revising the Master Plan-1994 in 1989 as provided in the Jammu and Kashmir Development Act-1970 for its continuity but it unfortunately did not materialize up to 2001 creating another planning vacuum of seven years which made the growth of city virtually directionless and highly informal.
The formulation of Second Master Plan-2021, which is presently in vogue, was actually initiated in the year 1989 but it was completed around 2003 and approved in 2004 after a gap of more than a decade since initiating the process.
As the ramifications of such a fallacious approach towards the city resulted into discordant and unplanned growth of Jammu, last year the need was felt to further revise the Jammu Master Plan. But it seems that the preparation of revised Master Plan-2032 is not being taken with the required seriousness by several concerned officers.
This is evident from the fact that the revised Master Plan has yet not crossed the stage of disposal of suggestions and objections received by Jammu Development Authority by placing the document in the public domain.
The last date of sending objections and suggestions to JDA by cross section of society was May 9, 2016 but their disposal is still pending despite lapse of two and half months. Moreover, the MLAs had also furnished their suggestions to the JDA on the directions of the Speaker of Legislative Assembly, who had found it imperative to take the elected representatives of the people on board in finalizing such a vital document.
“A team of the JDA is still going through the suggestions and objections and no specific time-frame has yet been fixed for completion of this exercise”, official sources told EXCELSIOR, adding “the dilly-dallying approach is notwithstanding the fact that Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has already expressed serious concern over slackness on the part of officers assigned the task of disposal of suggestions and objections”.
It is pertinent to mention here that while reviewing the functioning of Housing and Urban Development Department on April 20 this year, the Chief Minister had noted with concern the persistent delay in finalization of the Revised Master Plan not only for Jammu but also for Srinagar city.
“The delay in disposal of suggestions/objections is notwithstanding the fact that draft of the Revised Master Plan is required to be placed at various forums before its final approval”, sources said.
After completion of suggestions/objections exercise, the document would be examined by an in-house committee of the Jammu Development Authority. Thereafter, the revised Master Plan would be examined by a Board headed by Commissioner/ Secretary to Government, Housing and Urban Development Department and comprised of Municipal Commissioner Jammu, Deputy Commissioner Jammu and Vice-Chairman Jammu Development Authority.
After clearance from this Board, the Master Plan would be placed before the State Cabinet for final approval following which implementation would become possible. From the stages the revised Master Plan is required to cover, there are remote possibilities of draft plan becoming an approved vision document in near future.
Till then the city will continue to be regulated on the basis of policies enunciated in the outlived Master Plan and there will not be an end to the discordant and unplanned growth, which otherwise has assumed alarming proportion.
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