Srinagar is an ancient city with shifting centrality from epoch to epoch. Its main feature is that the city sprawled along the two bank of Jhelum connected by a variety of bridges, pontoon, boat bridges, wooden bridges and modern RCC bridges. It has never been a planned city though, of course, in post-independence period, a couple of colonies did come up on the fringes of old city with some semblance of modernity but without civic amenities that are the hallmark of any planned township. Most of the summer capital, especially what is known as downtown, is congested and crowded with narrow streets and lanes and choked drainage. What is called civil lines is in no way worth the name. Overall, this is a dismal city, where crowds are mulling on all sides and antiquated vehicles used as means of internal traffic are crawling like insects making movement virtually impossible as 7,000 street hawkers have converted city’s footpaths into their private estate.
Srinagar Master Plan was announced with great fanfare. But like all other tall claims and bamboozling plans, the Srinagar Master Plan also turned up only damp squib. In a PIL lodged with the State High Court, the petitioners claimed that 1800 major violations of Srinagar Master Plan have been reported in the city where illegal commercial complexes, hotels, schools have come up in the residential areas over past one decade with no parking space leading to choking of the city. These violations have happened despite the fact that Srinagar Municipal Corporation has a large army of employees, field-men, inspectors and others who are supposed to keep an eye on and demolish any construction raised illegally and without permission. Commercially lucrative areas of the city towards the south and along the national highway or the by-pass find mushrooming of buildings and structures shown as residential quarters but actually converted into commercial hubs.
The PIL case now before the High Court is a reflection on Urban Development Department of the State. Such gross and blatant violations could not have happened without the connivance of the officials of the Municipal Corporation. In all probability this seems to be the reason why the High Court issued instruction to the Commissioner of Srinagar Municipal Corporation to submit a detailed report on these irregularities along with the names of officials in charge of the segments where irregularities have happened and also the names of the localities. The High Court has also asked to communicate to it the action taken by the authorities against the defaulting officials. The Court has also directed that the report should also indicate all the violations of any Building Operations Controlling Authority (BOCA) permissions.
This is almost equal to censuring the SMC. During past two decades, unscrupulous people have tried to exploit the disturbed situation in Kashmir and establish nexus with irresponsible authorities who turned a blind eye to blatant irregularities of grabbing the municipality owned patches of land, raise structures of whatever dimension and direction they liked without caring to obtain permission from competent authorities. The result is that the so-called tourist city has been turned into a virtual ghetto.
Seen from wider perspective, the situation of a city choking and turning into a ghetto is very serious. The Government should stop taking only cursory notice of this situation or giving it piecemeal treatment. An in-depth study of the situation should proceed along following lines. In the first place, it must be recognized that Srinagar is not a planned city, and is unfit to be treated as a tourist city. Secondly, it needs political will and circumstantial conduciveness to dismantle illegal structures raised during past two decades. We don’t think the Government is in a situation that it can enforce punitive action. Therefore a via media has to be found. The via media should ensure that no more illegal structures will be raised in future and those meant for residential purpose are used only for that purpose and not converted into hotels, restaurants, commercial centers etc.
Most importantly, it is to be suggested that the Government should waste no time in concentrating on building the twin-capitals of Srinagar and Jammu which will be the true face of a tourist city. The CM in a recent public speech in Kishtwar had suggested that he would ask the centre for a package of 40,000 crore rupees for modernization of the two capital cities. It is all right to modernize the two old cities to the extent possible but that is not going to make Srinagar a true tourist capital. Let these and more funds be raised on national and on international levels to plan the twin-capital city for Srinagar and Jammu. The new cities will come up in the proximity of the old cities strictly in accordance with modern town planning rules and should have all civic amenities that would make them models for future town planning.
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