For people anywhere in the world growing urbanization means progress and prosperity and people of Jammu & Kashmir too have no different opinion on growing urbanization. However unplanned urbanisation in Jammu & Kashmir has thrown up huge challenges for urban planners over the period of year but the challenges of urbanisation are not taken as seriously by planners and city developers as they should have been taken in recent years. After embarking on a plan of smart cities in Srinagar the civic facilities should have improved but unfortunately the people don’t have as much access to basic civic facilities as they used to have few years ago. Take the issue of drainage system in Srinagar, the growing public complaints indicate that drainage system is still as defunct as it was in the year 2014 when devastating floods had damaged hugely both public and private properties not only in Srinagar but also in most of the towns of Kashmir valley besides Jammu city and major towns of Jammu region also. Complaints are galore that work estimates for constructions and repairs of several drains of several areas of Srinagar city are gathering dust in different wings of Srinagar Municipal Corporation for the want of approval to financial allocation for construction and repairs of drains allegedly denied for the want of adequate funds by the planning division of Srinagar Municipal Corporation. Primarily it was the job of elected corporators to raise the demands for financial allocations of the projected estimates for construction of drains in their concerned areas and pursue the matters till the final sanction for such financial allocations by the concerned administrative department. So a message goes out that urban planners and city developers have not learnt any lessons from 2014 devastating floods. Not only the issue of financial allocations for construction and repairs of drains but now also the issues of drinking water facilities and proper maintenance of link roads of most of the Srinagar’s residential areas are now unprecedentedly rising day after day.
With the unprecedented rise in the migration of rural populations to cities and town in search of jobs and livelihoods across Jammu & Kashmir the challenges of waste disposal, sanitation, drinking water facilities, maintenance of roads and drains and development of urban infrastructure are rising day after day, month after month and year after year. Targeted planning by the urban planners and city developers is the only way to reduce the rising mess of civic facilities in cities and towns of Jammu & Kashmir.
Transfers of City Water Works Division and R&B Division Srinagar to Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) are fasting proving bad experiences as the crisis of drinking water shortage is deepening day after day instead of heading to any dead end and similarly complaints of discrimination and delay in the macadamisation of the link roads of residential areas are rising day after day and month after month across Srinagar city. Even the garbage disposal system is as defunct as it was years ago as still the issues about the Achan garbage site remain unresolved. With the unprecedented rise in the migration of rural populations to cities and town in search of jobs and livelihoods across Jammu & Kashmir the challenges of waste disposal, sanitation, drinking water facilities, maintenance of roads and drains and development of urban infrastructure are rising day after day, month after month and year after year. Targeted planning by the urban planners and city developers is the only way to reduce the rising mess of civic facilities in cities and towns of Jammu & Kashmir.
