The incessant rains bringing Srinagar and several areas of South and North Kashmir nearer to 2014 like devastating floods is a pointer to the fact that in the planners haven’t respected the basic topography and hydrology of the flood prone low lying areas nearer to water bodies like river Jehlum and the price is being paid with human lives as was witnessed during devastating floods in the year 2014. While the current regime has not drawn any lessons from the large scale devastation caused by floods in September 2014 the successive regimes in Jammu & Kashmir have allowed blind deforestation and choking of water bodies. In 1957, Jawahar Nagar area worst hit by September 2014 floods in uptown Srinagar was agricultural land. It got built over very quickly and we had devastating floods in 1959 with the built up area bearing the brunt of it. There is nothing like town planning in Kashmir. It is all mis-planning. Seeing the kind of building activity that happened in Srinagar and major towns of Kashmir valley in the previous two decades, no one can believe it was a conflict zone for the exact same time frame. The problem in Kashmir has always been unplanned construction and a penchant to build in swamps. The failure of the Urban Development Department is manifest. It has failed to plan the spread of the city in the right direction and along the wanted axis. It failed to create colonies of its own but let unplanned building activities. The level of corruption varies from place to place. In Kerala, when you visit some eco-sensitive areas, officials count the number of plastic items you are carrying, if there is a number mismatch at the time of leaving, you are fined on the spot. Houseboats in Alleppey are shifting to bio-toilets. In rural areas paddy cultivation fields, often prone to flooding, can’t be purchased for commercial and residential purposes. Along the sea shores, embankments are managed and built by locals with support of government bodies. Illegal quarrying of sand is politically opposed at ground level. The material gains made by Kerala are, at least in parts, getting used in a proper way. The signs should have been clear in case of Kashmir.
Moreover, we are unable to see the elephant in the room which is the failure of urban planning. This is the root cause of all encroachments in water bodies. As the growing needs of housing facilities raise the level of land use requirement a proper planning with thrust on housing schemes could help the government to neutralize the dangers caused by natural calamities like flood furry.
If one can walk/wade across the Wular lake to reach Zianalank, you know Srinagar is heady for disaster. This is not a new problem in Srinagar. People have been encroaching upon the water bodies and wetlands for centuries. The Dal lake used to be five times its present size in Akbar’s time, connecting to Anchar on one side, as the waters coming down the Sindh settled into the main valley. The natural drainage area has been usurped by land fill to build houses and even hotels. The process continues. Satellite pictures since the sixties show where the encroachments and building has taken place. These floods are not a reminder of forgotten lessons. They are a reminder how the unholy nexus of politicians, administrators and government engineers create conditions for disaster to follow for immediate pecuniary or career advantage. The fear of flood has been staring Kashmir in its face ever since the city was built. Kashmir may be successful with Venice as a model which tries to work with nature. It cannot succeed in opposition to nature. Isn’t the problem of urban decay actually about migration of people from rural to urban areas in India? Absolute neglect of rural India and concentration of avenues, facilities and employment mostly in urban India is what India has achieved after Independence. Urbanisation is inevitable. India has one of the lowest urbanisation rates in the world. 70% of GDP is created in urban areas but only 30% of India’s population lives there. Moreover, we are unable to see the elephant in the room which is the failure of urban planning. This is the root cause of all encroachments in water bodies. As the growing needs of housing facilities raise the level of land use requirement a proper planning with thrust on housing schemes could help the government to neutralize the dangers caused by natural calamities like flood furry.
