KL Report
SRINAGAR
The government on Monday decided to send the copies of draft Master Plan for Srinagar, currently under review, to a Technical Committee of experts to get their views before submitting the final draft to the cabinet for approval.
Reviewing the progress of Srinagar Master Plan revamp at a high-level meeting, Commissioner Secretary Housing and Urban Development Department, Jeet Lal Gupta, while expressing satisfaction over the Master Plan review said the draft land use plan should be sent to Director Economic Reconstruction Agency, Vice-Chairman Lakes and Waterways Development Authority (LAWDA), Commissioner Srinagar Municipal Corporation, Chief Town Planner and Chief Engineers of R&B, PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control, UEED and PDD and other concerned officers from various departments to get their views on it within 15 days. “After getting the views of the members of the Technical Committee the draft Master Plan would be put up to the Cabinet after being approved by the Minister for Housing and Urban Development,” he said.
A threadbare discussion was held on various contours of the Master Plan in the meeting hailing earmarking special hubs for various specialized activities including education, information technology, industry, agro activities, tourism, handicrafts and medical city.
“As a part of the programme to decongest Srinagar and ensure its planned growth, dedicated places for creating specialized infrastructure would be earmarked in the local area of the City in the revised Master Plan,” Gupta said and added that key factors like accessibility, transportation, environment and locale should be taken into consideration while earmarking the areas for niche activities.”
Earlier, VC SDA, Muhammad Shafi Rather gave a detailed presentation about the progress of Master Plan review being undertaken by a professional consultancy. “The Master Plan would go to the state Cabinet only after the approval of the Technical Committee and the SDA Board,” VC said.
The midterm review of the Srinagar Master Plan 2000-2021 was undertaken by SDA in February 2012 to suggest ways and means to make the document more realistic and implementable in consonance with the ground realities besides taking care of inaccuracies in the existing Mater Plan.
Besides Commissioner Secretary Housing & Urban Development Department and Vice-Chairman SDA, CEO ERA Saurabh Bhagat, Vice-Chairman Lakes and Waterways Development Authority (LAWDA) Irfan Yaseen, Commissioner Srinagar Municipal Corporation, G N Qasba, Chief Town Planner, Hakeem Iftikhar, Joint Director Planning, PS Kakroo and other officers were present at the meeting.
