SRINAGAR: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday chaired separate board meetings of the Jammu Development Authority (JDA) and Srinagar Development Authority (SDA) to review proposed amendments to the Master Plans of Jammu and Srinagar.
Omar chaired the 91st Board of Directors meeting of the JDA and the 85th meeting of the SDA, where the proposed modifications, public feedback and regulatory requirements were discussed.
During the meeting on Srinagar’s Master Plan, officials discussed Town Planning Schemes, protection of Dal and Nigeen lakes and other water bodies, and alignment with the J&K Unified Building Bye-Laws-2021.
The meeting also reviewed proposed reforms aimed at simplifying land-use zoning and building permission procedures.
The Revised Jammu Master Plan-2032 was discussed with regard to 15 planning zones, rationalisation of land-use categories, geo-referenced mapping and incorporation of major infrastructure projects into the plan document.
Officials also deliberated on environmental and heritage safeguards, including measures to protect the Tawi riverbed and watercourses.
Chairman SDA Shabir Hussain Bhat and Chairman JDA Rupesh Kumar made separate presentations on the proposed plans.
The Chief Minister stressed the need to strike a balance between planned urban growth, ease of doing business, addressing public concerns and protecting the environment while finalising the proposed Master Plans.
The meetings were attended by Advisor to the Chief Minister Nasir Aslam Wani, Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo, Additional Chief Secretary to the Chief Minister Dheeraj Gupta, ACS Finance Shailendra Kumar, ACS PWD Anil Kumar Singh, Commissioner Secretary Planning, Monitoring and Development Department Alice Vaz, Commissioner Secretary Housing and Urban Development Mandeep Kaur, Divisional Commissioners of Jammu and Kashmir, Commissioner Secretary Law, Deputy Commissioners of Jammu and Srinagar, and Commissioners of the Srinagar and Jammu Municipal Corporations, among other officials.
Jammu-based officers participated in the meeting through video conferencing.
