Fragmented urban growth continues, no unified planning
*Authorities functioning without dedicated leadership or funds
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Dec 28: Nearly seven years after the Jammu & Kashmir Metropolitan Region Development Authorities Act was enacted, its key provisions, meant to usher in coordinated and forward-looking development in the two Metropolitan Regions, have largely remained ignored by the concerned authorities.
Passed by the Legislature of the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir, the law survived a major constitutional and administrative overhaul as it was retained by the Ministry of Home Affairs even after the enactment of the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019, underscoring its continued legal relevance in the Union Territory framework.
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The mandate of the Act was to create full-fledged Metropolitan Region Development Authorities capable of overseeing infrastructure planning, mobility management, environmental sustainability and integrated development within the designated Metropolitan Regions. The Act also empowers these Authorities to regulate major construction and urban activity beyond a prescribed threshold unless permitted by them, and to establish a statutory Metropolitan Region Development Fund.
Further, the Act clearly states: ”Notwithstanding anything contained in the Jammu and Kashmir Development Act, 1970, the J&K State Town Planning Act, 1963 or any other law for the time being in force, the Authorities shall assist in the preparation of Master Plans, Zonal Plans or Town Planning Schemes. Moreover, the Authorities shall prepare an annual plan of action for infrastructure development and provision of amenities in the ensuing financial year”.
The Authorities were envisaged as powerful statutory bodies, akin to local planning authorities, with representation from Ministers, legislators, Government officials and technical experts giving them the institutional weight to reshape urban governance in Jammu and Kashmir.
“However, despite all this, most substantive provisions of the Act have remained unimplemented, rendering the Metropolitan Region Development Authorities (MRDAs) mere paper institutions”, official sources told Excelsior.
“Instead of creating dedicated leadership as envisaged under the Act, the administration over the years has confined itself to appointing Divisional Commissioners as Additional Chief Executive Officers of the Metropolitan Region Development Authorities,” the sources said, adding that “this half-hearted approach has rendered the Authorities ineffective and incapable of discharging their statutory responsibilities”.
They further said “even after the return of an elected Government, the Act remains trapped on paper, with no concrete steps taken to implement it in its entirety”, adding “without dedicated funding, staffing or empowered leadership, MRDAs have been reduced to ceremonial entities occasionally referenced in official notifications but absent from real decision-making”.
Unless the Government moves decisively to activate all provisions of the MRDA Act, appoint empowered leadership, allocate funds and integrate metropolitan planning into core governance, the legislation will remain “a bold vision reduced to a forgotten file”, the sources said. They added, “the failure to operationalise the MRDA framework has had tangible repercussions—urban development in both regions continues in a fragmented and uncoordinated manner, with municipal bodies, development authorities and line departments often acting in silos rather than under a unified metropolitan vision”.
As per Section 14 of the Act, the primary object of a Metropolitan Region Development Authority is to secure the planned development of the metropolitan region in accordance with an approved Development Plan. The law empowers the Authority to review physical, financial and economic plans; examine development projects and schemes at various stages; formulate and execute schemes; recommend policy interventions to the Government; and coordinate with other authorities for inter-regional development and overall metropolitan growth.
Further, Section 15 of the Act explicitly mandates the Authority to prepare an Infrastructure Development Plan for the Metropolitan Region, while Section 17 lays thrust on the preparation of a Mobility Management Plan. Likewise, under Section 19, the Authority is required to prepare a plan for sustainable management of the urban environment.
“In the absence of compliance with these provisions of the Act, the Authorities have largely remained dependent on existing departmental structures, limiting their functional autonomy and decision-making capacity”, the sources said.
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