Shabby Srinagar!

Issues PWD, SMC, UEED, ERA, etc. need to address

ARJIMAND HUSSAIN TALIB

A sensitive look at Srinagar city today makes you sad. Despite a lot of hoopla about making it green, clean and ‘developed’, it doesn’t get any better, it seems. Worse, it is losing its pristine aesthetic charm quite fast. Some of its grand historical landmarks are degrading. Some have been totally lost. Others have simply disappeared.

Srinagar’s ‘Venice of the East’ sobriquet seems little too far fetched today. The city lives mostly with the landmarks of the Maharaja and Bakhshi eras. It is true that the raging conflict has taken its toll on investment and existing landscape, but that cannot be an infinite excuse.

Shabby roads, bad drainage system, no traffic signal system, poor traffic management, lack of trees, poor sewerage and solid waste management system - all reflect poorly on this city. The reason the city is so dusty or muddy is that its soily patches are not grassed.

It is not that some good things are not happening with Srinagar. The problem is that they are too little in comparison with what is going wrong. Today, if compared with other cities of its stature in poor countries in Africa and Asia, this city looks shabby, rather primitive. That is what I can say, at least, after having traveled across some three dozen countries in these continents over the last few years.

At its soul, Srinagar has a special distinction: despite being one of the world’s oldest surviving cities, it retains a traditional touch. Not many cities in the world have been able to retain their organic character due to the onslaught of modern architecture. Srinagar retains that character, by and large. Things are going wrong somewhere else.

Let us begin with some good things first. The Mufti government’s initiative of beautifying the banks of the River Jhelum from the Zero Bridge up to Maisuma seems to be the best and a well executed project the city has seen in decades. Looking at the work engineers have done, it looks something to feel proud about. J&K Bank’s development of the dilapidated Iqbal Park and Badam Wari are some other good examples. We must replicate this model of development and commercial use of public spaces in other places as well.

Similarly, maintenance of Eidgah in Srinagar, renovation of Aali Masjid, fencing of Malkhah graveyard, development of Nigeen Club, Children’s Park at Hazuribagh and the under-construction Zanana Park near Rajbagh are some other good things that have happened to the city.

Lately, the introduction of Kashmiri architecture – thanks to INTACH’s heritage and cultural crusade in Kashmir – to our new buildings also gets 100 out of 100. The Sangarmal Shopping Mall and the new Tourist Reception Centre are surely two landmarks which look very native, yet modern too.

When it comes to Kashmirisation of the Ganta Ghar at Lal Chowk – though much belated – it could have been better planned. Its Kashmiri look is good, but the manner Lal Chowk’s ‘beautification’ is being executed is cynical. It chocked a commercial space.

If the idea was beautification, why didn’t we plant Chinars there? Is there anything as beautiful in the city as the Residency Road ahead of the Polo View straddled with Chinars?

Lately, we are getting fond of using our knowledge of Computer-Aided Designing (CAD) in creating good architectures. But our own imagination and the artificial intelligence of our computers are missing an important point: that is the greenery.

Our native trees – poplars, willows, deodars etc – are almost extinct from our public spaces in Srinagar now. And what is creeping in is the rather non-native ‘cypress’ tree, which has become a darling of our engineering departments. The recent cypress tree plantation on the Bypass Road is a disaster.

When it comes to landscaping and tree plantation, PWD and R&B departments’ performance is dismal. There are many questions. Why isn’t there a dedicated maintenance wing for creating and maintaining tree cover in the city, which is professionally trained and managed? Why don’t we have a green cover under the Jehangir Chowk flyover? Why trees on other roads, barring the Airport Road, don’t grow and provide wide cover? Why does the Landscape Division of R&B trim trees, and make them never to come out of their cost-intensive steel cages?

The logic that trees are a public safety hazard in times of strong winds is outlandish. Trees have similar characteristics in every part of the world, but they don’t just merit to be cut. That is criminal. The city Bypass Road, Ali Jan Road, Soura-Pandach 90-feet Road, etc. need a tree cover badly.

Srinagar needs better road planning. The Rambagh-Exhibition Crossing fly-over, billed to ease traffic on the Airport Road, is going to be a logistical nightmare for at least a decade to come. Given our dismal project execution record – like the Hyderpora Bypass flyover example – it looks improbable that it will be done in time. The traffic mess it is going to create will disrupt Srinagar’s life badly.
Even as some disruption is inevitable, a project almost loses its utility if it throws life out of gear for long periods. Our project planning requires some cost-benefit auditing today, which must factor in lives lost in accidents, time loss in commutation and the financial loss which vehicles incur.

An alternative road along the Flood Channel from Tengpora Bypass to Jawahar Nagar and exploring another bridge near the Convent School could be given a thought. Other Srinagar roads also need attention.

A coordination mechanism – which is in-built in the administrative system - between various departments like UEED, Water Works Department, Power Department, ERA, PWD, SMC, etc. is long overdue. Without it our public utilities suffer badly. Investments often go down the drain.

A time has come when we also need to introduce a law on Floor Space Index (FSI) for Srinagar, and, may be, for other towns and cities of the state. The time of horizontal luxury for us is over.

We all know that horizontal expansion of buildings in the city is eating up green spaces at an alarming rate. Worse, they are consuming our flood plains too. The military garrisons, illegally occupying prime land in the city have to go too. Srinagar’s Master Plan 2000-2021 clearly identifies the Tattoo Ground and the Haft Chinar garrisons to be shifted to other locations. It is sad that despite having been given alternative land else, Army continues to hold these massive spaces. Government needs to act on these now.

Introduction of law on Floor Space Index will ease pressure on our lands. It is true that not all of our lands in Srinagar are fit for vertically expanded buildings due to high water table, but we do have elevated lands.

Srinagar’s solid waste management continues to be a disaster. Now that we couldn’t get an anticipated Asian Development Bank (ADB) loan for developing a proper solid waste management facility, we must look for alternatives. Srinagar deserves to be brought out from its primitiveness now.

(The columnist is Online Editor with Greater Kashmir/Kashmir Uzma. Email:arjimand@greaterkashmir.com)