Baldev Singh Chib
The Jammu Development Authority has published the list of illegal housing colonies falling within its jurisdiction. It is just a tip of the iceberg. There are numerous such illegal housing colonies/ clusters in the jurisdiction of Jammu Municipal Corporation also. These are in the peripheries of Government administered housing colonies namely; Roopnagar, Rajinder Nagar, Janipur, Lakkar Mandi, Trikuta Nagar, Channi Himmat, Sainik Colony and also on the outskirts of Jammu like Greater Kailash, Ratno Chak, Sunjwan, Bathindi, Sidhra, Bajalta, Ragoora, Phallian Mandal areas etc.
The main reason for mushrooming of illegal and unauthorized colonies in Jammu is that the Jammu and Kashmir Government did not develop any housing colony in the past 30- 35 years. Due to natural increase in population, urbanization, migration from Kashmir in 1990s and rural- urban migration for job opportunities, education and better life-style, the pressures for housing sites exacerbated. According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, housing is one of the basic needs for the survival of human beings (along with air, water, food, sleep, clothing and reproduction). The other needs in the order of hierarchy are safety (security and safety), belongingness and love (intimate relationships and friends), esteem (prestige and feeling of accomplishment) and self-actualization (achieving one’s full potential including creative activities). If the basic needs are not satisfied, the human body cannot function optimally. These basic needs are the most important as all other needs become secondary until these are met. Therefore, meeting housing needs is the most important thing in our lives. But, since the Government did not take any initiative in the past 30-35 years to lay out any housing colony in Jammu district inspite of the fact that Jammu Development Authority had land bank of lakhs of kanals, thus creating acute shortage of housing sites deliberately and the mushrooming of unauthorized and illegal colonies in Jammu started.
In a system of shortages, the giver is always at an advantage. In such a situation, two things happen: VIPism flourishes and the mafia takes the charge of service. Both these things came into being on quid pro quo. The land mafia encroached upon Government land, state land, forest land, common land, catchment areas of water bodies, river and canal banks, graveyards, temple lands, khads and nallahs to develop lay-out of residential plots thereon. The carved out undeveloped plots were sold to the people with multiple khasra numbers. Since there are multiple sellers who sell the land to the developers, the buyers are not able to exercise due diligence. Since they were needy and had no other choice, purchased housing sites in the unauthorized and illegal colonies involuntarily in the sense that they were feeling compelled by inevitable circumstances and not-guided by choice. Though illegal, these colonies were provided drinking water supply and electricity connections. Parking is a very serious problem in these colonies as the developers do not follow the town planning norms. The internal roads are narrow and are not maintained. Therefore, these are more prone to water logging. Waste management, garbage disposal and sewage systems are always a challenge. These are highly populated and the infrastructure is deficient. Illegal colonies and unauthorized constructions are the major cause of floods. Public amenities such as parks, green space, community halls are missing. Banks do not offer loans to construct houses in such illegal colonies. It is very tough for the purchasers to identify who is the real seller and the real owner of the property. The Government and its authorities should have devised some mechanism to stop the exploitation of the helpless people but they themselves were part of it.
The rural poor migrate from rural areas to cities in search of livelihood. They manage to find habitats in places which are mostly filthy or marshy. They form a shelter that houses a group of people. Piped water is unavailable, even though their need for shelter has been met. Everyday they feel concerned on where to find water to drink, cook and wash. They work on footpaths because they have “small jobs to nurse in the city and there is nowhere else to work.” They earn a meager livelihood by working on the footpaths. They face intimidation and exploitation at the hands of police and Municipal staff. These poor people, too, have a right to life and dignity. The UT Government should provide them shelter and also suitable spaces for work so they live and work with dignity.
In the peripheries of Government colonies, the politicians, bureaucrats and the wealthy have constructed many bed-roomed mansions in acres with all modern facilities like swimming pools, large lawns, backyard bird zoos, orchids etc. availing infrastructural benefits of the Government colonies. No politician of Jammu, irrespective of party, ever raised this most pressing demand concerning the common man in any forum. This itself speaks their complete lack of concern for the common man.
The development programs of the Government have no relevance with the basic needs of the public. The artificial lake on river Tawi, Golf Ground at Sidhra, Rope- way project, painting of walls and flyover columns are not the basic needs of the common man. Instead of making Jammu the smart city, new housing colonies and satellite townships should have been developed to decongest Jammu and provide developed plots to the public in the Government approved housing colonies at reasonable prices. The common man needs housing, health related and medical facilities, quality education, sanitation and proper infrastructure. These all are lacking badly. We have a diseased administration in which power and money can get anything done and lack of them virtually means nothing. Therefore, it has caused dis-satisfaction among a vast majority of people who have the neither. The legitimacy of the state gets undermined when it cannot provide the basic services. Developed housing sites in Government housing colonies must become accessible and be affordable. This transforms an individual’s out-look and societal cohesion. The ultimate aim of the Government should be to make peoples’ lives better, happier and prosperous.
The illegal and unregulated housing colonies are a menace to urban development. The Government must find some ways as to how they would prevent these colonies from coming up. Currently, there exists no mechanism to check it at the threshold. We find that when people raise illegal constructions it is claimed that the said constructions have been existing for long. To contain the menace of illegal colonies, the Government should develop at least 5-6 housing colonies and satellite townships in Jammu and Samba districts to decongest Jammu and to provide housing sites to the public at the reasonable and affordable prices. The public purchase plots in the illegal colonies under compelling circumstances and not by choice. The Jammu Municipal Corporation and the Jammu Development Authority should be empowered to inform the Sub- Registrars not to register the properties where the layout and the building plans have not been approved by the competent authority. This will put an end to the menace of mushrooming of illegal housing colonies.
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