Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Feb 20: The population of Srinagar city is projected to be 3.3 million by 2035 and will contribute 45 percent to the urban population of Kashmir region.
This was revealed by Chief Town Planner while giving a detailed presentation to Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Dr. Asgar Hassan Samoon during a review meeting today.
The meeting was convened to review the revision of Srinagar Master Plan being framed by Town Planner Organisation Kashmir in collaboration with Srinagar Development Authority.
Chief Town Planner Kashmir Iftikar Ahmad Hakeem informed the Divisional Commissioner that the city may require an additional area of about 55 square kilometres for residential areas to accommodate extra population. He said the total proposed residential area of the city will be 183 square kilometres by the year 2035.
The Chief Town Planner informed the Divisional Commissioner that major achievements including the land use plan, transportation plan, identification of flood zones, projection of population, socio-economic parameters and tourism have been completed and the work on land suitability proposals , satellite townships and social infrastructure are in progress and the draft master plan will be completed and put in public domain within three months.
The Divisional Commissioner was informed that the master plan needs additional areas for tourism growth and has proposals to dovetail tourism with heritage and local economic development including craft and cluster marketing.
He said that the master plan may be the first of its kind which is strictly being prepared as per the Urban and Regional Development Plan Formulations and Implementation guidelines and National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) guidelines issued by Ministry of Urban Development Government of India and NDMA
Dr. Samoon stressed that the Master Plan should be a vision document for next two decades for the development of Srinagar and should improve the quality of life of the people besides generating new employment avenues for the people. He laid stress on preservation of heritage, improvement of Healthcare and industries.
Divisional Commissioner directed HoDs of all the departments to furnish details to the Chief Town Planner regarding the existing projects, Projects in pipeline and future plans for next 20 years.
The meeting was attended by Chief Town Planner, DC Srinagar, VC LAWDA, VC SDA, Director Urban Local Bodies, Chief Engineers Irrigation and Flood Control and officers from SMC, tourism, Education, Health, Forest and other concerned officers.
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