A high-level meeting presided over by the Minister of Urban Development and also attended by the delegation of CEPT University Ahmadabad, was held to deliberate over the ten-year new Master Plan for the city of Jammu. CEPT University, Ahmadabad was approached by the State Government to prepare the Master Plan and the meeting discussed the draft presented by the planning team. Obviously, the Master Plan has taken into consideration that by 2021 the population of Jammu city is expected to grow two-fold and the land area could grow even three-fold. It is in fitness of things that the Urban Development Department is seized of its concern to plan ahead of time. By 2021, Jammu will have a population in the neighbourhood of eighteen lakh people. Naturally we need infrastructure commensurate with this requirement.
The truth is that both of the capitals are old and antiquated cities and do not qualify to be called modern cities. Old Jammu city is perched on a hill top with its advantages as well as disadvantages. Old Srinagar city is laid out along both banks of Jhelum with several bridges connecting the two parts. In both the cities, the streets are narrow, congested and overcrowded. These do not have the amenities like parks, playgrounds, parking lots, clubs, libraries, community halls, reading rooms, recreation and amenity outlets and children’s parks etc. The old houses and structures are not only ecologically and environmentally defective but are also dangerous as these could cause disaster in a situation of earthquake or fire and such other calamity. Their sanitation is sub-standard and power transmission lines are naked… Internal transport in both the cities is a mess of sorts and less said about it the better.
In this background, the envisaged Master Plan for Jammu should have two broad aspects. One is that of improving the infrastructure of old city including new localities that have come up with the passage of time. The second is that of laying a new township located between Palhanwala and Akhnoor which will house the envisaged population capacity of nearly ten lakh souls. The two plans should not be mixed up or confused. It is one thing to improve a given place and another to raise a new township. As far as the improvement of old city including the new localities is concerned, much remains to be done. In the first place the old city has its drawbacks. Its streets are narrow, lacks parks, parking lots and playgrounds as there is no space available. One option is of widening the streets or at least one main street which serves as the main artery of the winter capital by removing structures, shops, private houses and the rest. This is very expensive exercise and moreover it is difficult to cope with the resentment of the citizenry especially the business class which may be hit hard. The other thing is to consider a tramway along the main old city from Panjtirthi to Trikuta Nagar to be extended later on to other parts. If that is the option then all mini buses will have to be withdrawn as these would not be required anymore in the old city. These may be re-deployed for service to suburban areas. This will be a two-way tram and that solves the internal traffic problem for all times. At the same time, an important aspect of modernizing old Jammu city would be to remove the bus stand that exists in the heart of the old city and is the main source of traffic congestion. Some new flyovers are essential to reduce traffic bottlenecks. As there is no space for parks and playing grounds or recreational outlets, these have to be created in the peripheral areas if land is available. Modern sewerage scheme for the city is already underway but it has to be speeded up. Modern treatment plants have to be installed to dispose off the garbage and refuse and not pile these up along streets at selected spots. And of course without ensuring regular and uninterrupted power and water supply and sanitation, the concept of a modern city remains defeated.
As far as the laying of new township between Palhanwala and Akhnoor is concerned, one feels happy to listen to ambitious promises of providing modern and scientific infrastructure. The people are used to these high sounding and visionary plans but they have reservations about their success keeping in mind the past experience. Nevertheless, owing to rapid growth of population, a new township has to be laid out. This should conform to the criterion laid down by the Union Ministry of Urban Development. The concept of a modern township is vast and many sided. Shift from motorized transport to tramway connectivity is the first priority of a modern city. Parks, parking lots, playgrounds, clubs, community halls, broad avenues, services etc. all have to be according to the norms formally laid down. We hope that the planners of Jammu Master Plana will take all the se aspects into consideration. This is very true of Srinagar city and we have once or twice in the past strongly suggested raising an ultra modern twin-capital city contiguous to old Srinagar city which can house about a hundred thousand families including the displaced ones.
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