Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir administration’s proposal to build satellite townships in the Kashmir valley has put the Omar Abdullah-led government in the dock with the farmers worried about the loss of their land and the opposition parties asking the chief minister to come clean on the issue.
The satellite townships have been proposed by the J&K Housing Board across the Ring Road in six districts of the valley which fall along the new road being constructed from Pulwama to Ganderbal by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). The ring road skirts through the Budgam district and reaches Ganderbal district to finally connect with the Leh-Srinagar Highway.
Each township has been proposed to be built on 200 hectares (4000 kanals) and the administration has proposed 30 townships on both sides of the Ring Road within its 500 meters. Following the proposal of the divisional administration, Kashmir has announced a ban on the sale of land and construction in the 55 revenue villages of Srinagar, Budgam, Baramulla, Bandiproa, Ganderbal and Pulwama districts.
As per the officials, the Housing Board’s Collector, Mushtaq Ahmad, on October 9 this year asked the Tehsildars of Budgam, B K Pora, Chadoora and Narbal to furnish title of the land, Khasra number, area etc for the land across the Ring Road with 500 meters depth on each side of the road for assessment of feasibility of the proposed township project.
Ahmad, the Collector, told ETV Bharat that the order is about accessing the feasibility of land available and to carry out a basic exercise about the type of land-- whether it is state, private or agricultural land.
“Nothing has been done yet about acquiring land or compensation. Housing Board usually acquires State Land as the board cannot afford to pay huge compensation to the private landowners,” he said.
Citing the Jammu and Kashmir Town Planning Act 1963, the then Divisional Commissioner Kashmir P K Pole, who was the chairman of the Divisional Level Steering Committee, had in May 2022 had declared the 55 villages falling within the 500 meters along the sides of the Ring Road as no construction zone.
“The government of Jammu and Kashmir intends to prepare the Town Planning Schemes under section (7) of the Jammu and Kashmir Town Planning Act 1963 for orderly and planned development. Accordingly, a notice under section 10 of the Act is given that no person shall within the area of 500 meters from the boundary of Ring Road erect, or proceed with any building or work or enter into any contract for a period of two years. The government has placed a moratorium on the sale and purchase of the land within 500 meters from the boundary of the ring road,” the notice of the commissioner had said.
The Committee constituted by the Government vide Government Order No: 328-JK(GAD) of 2022 Dated: 28-03-2022 was mandated to prepare and implement the Town Planning Schemes (TS) on both sides of the upcoming Ring Road or in greenfield areas or listed TS areas envisaged in the Master Plan Srinagar-2035.
Calling the formulation of Town Planning Schemes a viable way forward for planned and sustainable development of transitional areas along the road, the commissioner had said that the scheme is a win-win proposition in which landowners receive serviced land with incremented value and the development agency controls haphazard fringe development and promotes planned urban growth.