Waseem Ahmad
BATAMALOO: Batamaloo constituency is one of the vast constituencies in Srinagar spreading from Tengpora bypass to Mujgund area on Bandipora road. Unnecessary delay in various projects and lack of development has irked the residents of the constituency.
Batamaloo falls under Srinagar Parliamentary constituency and had been stronghold of Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) but People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP) victory from the constituency in 2004 by-polls came as a surprise to everyone.
In the 2008 Assembly elections, JKNC managed to snatch away the seat from the PDP. Mohammad Irfan Shah of JKNC won the 2008 Assembly elections by defeating Tariq Hameed Karra of PDP who won the 2004 By-polls. However, PDP’s Noor Mohammad Sheikh won in 2014 elections by defeating Shah of JKNC. Sheikh bagged 12542 votes as against Shah’s 8215 votes.
The constituency of Batamaloo comprised many areas of Srinagar city and its outskirts including Wazirbagh, Solina, Alochibagh, Tengpora, Batamaloo, Qamarwari, Parimpora, Shalteng, HMT, Lawaypora and Mujgund.
The constituency saw a rapid growth in the residential colonies during last one decade and lack of planning in the areas resulted in under development of this part of Srinagar.
The residents of Batamaloo constituency are facing identical problems including lack of drainage system, water-logging, congestion, lack of macadamization, dilapidated roads, lack of road widening, rehabilitation and less development.
The new residential colonies constructed in the city outskirts along Srinagar-Baramulla and Srinagar-Bandipora highway are facing identical problem of lack of drainage system and the residents claim living there is a nightmare as they have to face immense hardships.
The residents of various areas of HMT including Mustafabad, Umarabad, Iqbal Colony, Chinar Colony, Sheikh-ul-Alam colony and Ghalibabad said that they have to face immense hardships due to lack of drainage system.
They said due to lack of proper drainage system in the area, a few centimeters of rain chokes the lanes causing immense hardships to them. “There is no proper drainage system in the area and every time after the rainfall, the areas are submerged in water. We often raised the issue with the former MLA but nothing changed,” Zahid Khan, a resident of Umarabad said.
As per the residents, a drainage project was started in 2017 from Shalteng to Lawaypora, along Srinagar-Baramulla highway by the authorities but the work on it is moving at snail’s pace.
The absence of proper drainage system can be seen in several other areas of the constituency including Mominabad, Batamaloo, Iqbalabad, Bemina and Tengpora who said that the former MLA promised us constructions of drains but to no avail.
The residents alleged that in one of the lanes at Mirabad of the area, the drainage has been left incomplete and the road is in dilapidated condition now. “We met the former MLA but there was no headway,” Riyaz Ahmad, a resident said.
Another problem that the residents of almost all the areas of the constituency are facing is the macadamization of roads and the residents claimed that roads have not been macadamized and left in dilapidated condition.
The residents of Zainakote area said that the main road as well as the inner roads have not been macadamized and are full of potholes due to which they have to face immense hardships. “We raised the issue with the former MLA but nothing was done,” Nazir Ahmad, a resident of Zainakote said.
Ishtiyaq Hussain, a resident of Aban Shah area of HMT said that the main road from HMT to Aban Shah is full of big potholes and has not been macadamized for many years. The residents of several other areas including Tengpora, Batamaloo, Bemina, Qamarwari, Chattabal, Alochibagh, Parimpora and Solina also said that the roads were not macadamized.
The shopkeepers of Batmaloo Bus Stand said that after shifting of Bus stand they were not rehabilitated. “We approached the former MLA several times but nothing was done”, they said.
Another project that is still pending is the road widening of Qamarwari junction and the commuters complained that the project is in limbo, causing immense hardships to them.
Qamarwari junction often witnessed huge traffic jams due to the choked road as it has not been widened for decades, thus failing to pave hassle free movement of vehicles which pass through the junction.
Bilal Ahmad Mir, Secretary, All Traders Association Qamarwari said that the rehabilitation issue of the shopkeepers is still pending with the authorities as the compensation they are providing is not adequate. “We raised the issue with the local former MLA as well but to no avail”, he said.
After missing several deadlines in past, two vital bridges over the river Jhelum in the Batamaloo constituency – Qamarwari Bridge and Shalteng bridge – are still incomplete while commuters continued to suffer.
Another vital project that is pending in the constituency is the construction of 500- bedded- Mother and Child hospital in Bemina area.
The construction of the hospital was started in 2013 and it was proposed to be 200-bedded Maternity Care hospital which will ease the burden of Lal Ded hospital in Srinagar.
Despite missing several deadlines in past, the construction of the hospital is still incomplete and people are still skeptical over its completion.
The residents of Zainakote area complained that the construction of an Industrial Training Institute (ITI) in the area is incomplete, despite passing more than nine years.
The locals of Zainakote lamented that the work of ITI building is underway at snail’s pace. “We fail to understand, why the institute was not completed in these nine long years. We raised the issue with the former MLA but noting changed,” Ishfaq Ahmad, a resident said.
Another issue that the residents of HMT and its adjoining areas are facing is the utilization of erstwhile HMT Chinar watch factory land. The land was then handed over to the State government who decided to allocate the land to different departments.
Out of 527 kanal estate of erstwhile HMT factory, state government have decided to allot 246 kanals to J&K police for building a housing colony, 80 kanals to paramilitary SSB and remaining portion for establishing industrial estate. However, a large portion of land is being occupied by the CRPF since 2010.
Former MLA, Noor Mohammad Sheikh while admitting under development of the constituency blamed several reasons for it which includes 2016 unrest, lack of funds and less time of the PDP-BJP Government tenure.
“The constituency is very large and there are numerous issues faced by people. We managed to redress some issues and some remained pending. The unrest of 2016 halted various projects while funds scarcity also affected development works,” he said
Sheikh said the macadamizations of the roads was done in 2015 and 2017 and several roads were macadamized in these two years, however, the work got affected in 2016 due to unrest. “In 2015, under city development, three roads were allotted for macadamizations that include Firdousabad road, Alochibagh road and JVC bund road. In Takanwari area, we macadamized 8 km long road from Dar Mohalla to Kreshbal. Lawaypora to Mujgund link road was also macadamized. We were managed to macadamize several main as well as inner roads in the constituency but the work was affected in 2016 due to unrest in the valley,” he said
The former MLA said that work on a drainage project which was halted was restarted and the three kilometer main drainage line from Shalteng to Mujgund was constructed. Besides, he said, the ATAL Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme was approved in the area to overcome the problem of drainage system and the work on it is still going on.
He said in Mujgund area, a long pending demand of residents of a Fire Station was fulfilled; besides a Primary Health Centre (PHC) was constructed in the area.
Sheikh said in Malroo area, a school building was constructed at the cost Rs 2.50 crore and a piece of land was acquired for construction of a school building in Bemina area and the work on it is on cards.
He further said that in Gundhasibhat and Lawaypora areas, schools were facing dearth of space and were in need of new buildings. Two school buildings were constructed in the respective areas. Besides a community hall was constructed in the Gundhasibhat area and construction work of a Trauma hospital in Lawaypora was restarted as the work on it was halted due to shortage of funds.
The Ex-MLA said that during his tenure, the government was able to give respite to the people of Tengpora and Batamaloo as there was no drainage system in the areas. “The main drainage line of the Tengpora was constructed and a dewatering station was installed that gave relief to the people of these areas. There are still some areas that lack drainage system but we were able to redress this issue in major portion of Tengpora and Batamaloo,” he said.
He further said that the long pending demand of play ground was approved in the Aloochibagh area for the people and work on it was started and almost 70 percent work on it was completed. Besides, a Women’s Degree College was approved in the same area and the construction work is going on.
When asked about lack of drainage system in many areas of the constituency due to which people are facing hardships, he said the lack of proper planning in construction of many colonies in the constituency is the reason for the lack of drainage system. “A wide range of colonies were constructed in this Constituency and they were made without any proper planning. We started construction of the main drainage lines in many areas that are almost complete and without the main outlet; there is no fun of making inner drainage lines in the colonies. We were able to work on the drainage system in all the areas and the work is still going on,” he said
The ex-MLA when asked about the issue of utilization of HMT factory land, said there were many proposals for the land and some decisions were already taken by the government but the issue is still pending.
He said the work on Mother and Child hospital in Bemina area was extended during their tenure as several blocks were added to it and the unrest of 2016 were the reasons for the delay in the project. He said the project is almost complete and only finishing work is pending.
When asked about the Qamarwari road widening project and issues faced by the affected shopkeepers, the ex-MLA said some of the shopkeepers were removed and they were given compensation accordingly but the overall project was halted due to shortage of funds.
He said several other developmental works were carried out in the constituency and hoped that if given opportunity next time, he will do his best for the development of the constituency.
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