Vinod Malhotra
Bahu Plaza, a modern Commerical Centre has been developed by Jammu Development Authority at a very vintage location in Jammu city. It was named as Bahu Plaza because firstly Jammu city is famous for an ancient monument namely Bahu fort/ temple & secondly the name of the village in which this shopping complex is located is Bahu. The construction work on it started in year 1995 and it reached its present stage in year 2004-05 after which its further extension as per approved plan did not happen.This project has come up purely on self-financing basis.The concept to develop this complex was based on the that time operative Jammu Master Plan proposals which envisaged development of commercial centres (District/ Neigbhourhood/ Sectoral C. centres) at many decentralised locations evenly within the local limits of Jammu city. The purpose was to offload & reduce pressure on Old city which was and still is frequently visited by residents living in the newly urbanized peripheral areas lacking requisite commercial centres. The Old Jammu city with its narrow roads/ lanes with very little open public spaces once vibrated with its traditional Indian bazaar type festive environment & its socially cohesive Mohalla culture but now it is fast losing its charm on a/c of acute congestion, uncontrolled traffic , rampart commercialization and changed life-style. Meanwhile many residential colonies have come up towards south of Tawi river in last 40-50 years or so. These colonies lack adequate supporting commercial centres. Gol market in Gandhinagar colony was planned as a sectoral shopping centre to cater to the demands of Gandhinagar residents only but it has developed as a city level business centre but without required infrastructure especially sufficient parking area. Bahu Plaza was developed by JDA to(a) reduce pressure on old city(b) arrest commercialization of residential areas of G.Nagar/Shastri Nagar/Trikuta Nagar etc (c) provide hassle free and pleasant shopping experience to the citizens. Bahu Plaza, located in prestigious Railhead Office complex spreads over an area of 5.25 hectres & has excellent locational advantages being close to Railway Station, main office complexes and posh residential colonies in Jammu city. All 224 shops & 240 office spaces(out of 256 no.) on upper floors stand sold by JDA in this complex till date. Financially it has been a very rewarding project for JDA as it has earned about Rs.55 crs. as premium from sale of shops/offices against its own total expenditure of Rs 27.5 crs. on its construction and provision of other infrastructure facilities like parking,landscaping & street lighting etc. Last year(2014-15) JDA earned Rs 4 crs. From auction of parking lot & annual rent from shops/office place allotees and spent only Rs 55 lacs on its security contract & maintainence. Despite being financially a success story for JDA, this Complex has not, somehow, succeeded as a good retail shopping centre as was expected and envisaged. Office units on top of shops are all functional but most of the shops facing central open space and in lower ground floor location are closed. Usually good shopping centres become more lively after sun-set hours but Bahu-Plaza is hardly as pulsating & vibrant during this time as the congested and traffic-tight Gole market is in the evening hours.
Why is it so?
Likely Reasons Bahu Plaza commercial centre is half finished & since 2004-05 its extension as proposed in the approved layout plan has come to a standstill. The proposal on vacant portion of land (50 kanals or so) within this complex on which one additional building Block had to be raised was changed by JDA on only myopic financial considerations.Under a new proposal, JDA auctioned 24 kanals of land(after sidestepping the original design which envisaged 5 no. shop cum office Blocks around traffic free central open plaza space), which is part of this complex for its integrated extension,for Rs. 24 crs. to a private developer for construction of a shopping Mall. Fortunately this proposal could not take off due to some legal issues. Due to its inherent design character, the proposed shopping Mall with its own covered courtyard/entertainment area shall not get integrated with already built 4 no. commercial blocks and central open Plaza space of Bahu-Plaza complex.It is hoped that JDA would reconsider this proposal of shopping Mall, discuss new ideas of extension of this prestigious Complex with Business leaders/shop allotees already operating in Bahu-Plaza & proceed further keeping in view the best suitable interest of this shopping centre in a holistic and integrated manner.
As its name suggests, the highlight and focus of the Bahu-Plaza design is traffic free central open space/Plaza around which commercial blocks are placed.This open space has been by and large developed as a park with some paved areas. Can JDA conceive of infusing some activities, through judicious private sector participation, so as to make it into a top open air entertainment centre? For instance, few crowd pulling attractions like a children train/interesting rides etc. could be carefully introduced in the Plaza space without jeopardizing its design i.e. its open air character.This could attract people to this complex particularly in the evening hrs. Recently, Baisakhi festival was celebrated on traffic-loaded roads in Jammu city. Perhaps Bahu-Plaza could have been one of the ideal spot of festivity during this Mela.
Food courts/ eateries form a very important component any city market. Sadly Bahu-Plaza is devoid of this facility. Look at Gole-market/Apsara road shopping street in Gandhinagar—Pahalwan’s shop, Monica stores, Jai-Hind bakery, Dayal’s bakery and many other city-popular eateries add glamour to this otherwise congested and parking-deficit shopping centre. People from all over the city visit these popular shops. Infact till very recently, no. of mobile reharies selling traditional Indian street snacks(like Gol-gappa, Bel-puri, Chaat, Kulari etc.) were doing very brisk business from the footpaths of main road very close to Bahu-Plaza complex. Now these have been rightly removed keeping in view the traffic/parking problems they were creating. But it points out the demand of this activity in this area. Perhaps a small well organized Food-court at a very suitable & least disturbing corner location(which does not create any related problem) in the central open Plaza space could be considered for infusion in this complex. It is likely to add value to this commercial complex by attracting younger people to it especially in evening hrs. to enjoy snack foods. This, of course, would require meticulous planning& strict enforcement to ensure that the Food-court does not become a filthy square. Good, bright and ornamental lighting is another attraction of any good shopping centre. Street-lighting system in Bahu-Plaza is lacking in this aspect. The same needs to be improved to add more brightness &thus inject more life in this market especially during evening hrs. JDA/PDD could also explore the possibility of exploiting terrace spaces for generating electricity through solar energy in not only Bahu-Plaza but entire Railhead complex spread over 400 kanals. Floor ratio air (FAR) of Railhead complex is one. On an average, all buildings within this area are 4-storeyed. It implies that out of 400 kanals total area, 100 kanals roughly works out to be ground coverage. Safely about 60 kanals of terrace space should be easily available(out of ground coverage area) for purposes of generating solar power. With latest technological improvements, about 5KW of solar electricity can be generated from 50sq.m of sun-exposed terrace space i.e. from one kanal of terrace space, 50KW 0f solar power can be potentially generated .Thus from 60 kanals of un-utilised terrace space on top of all buildings in Railhead complex area, about 3000KW of solar electricity can be generated . It can not only power a good street lighting in this entire area but could also help in reducing the power supply load being managed by PDD in this commercial area. This would also set a good example for others to follow in harnessing & use of clean energy in Jammu city. As per parking requirements, Bahu-Plaza complex is short of required parking spaces. But this shortfall can be met by developing a good multi-tier parking-lot in the vacant upper terrace area within this complex. Besides, people visiting Bahu-Plaza often complain that even for a very short duration visit, parking fee is rather more.The same can be made more people friendly, till this market becomes more vibrant,through intervention by JDA as an incentive measure.
Lastly in our system of urban governance, projects of city level importance like an artificial lake on river Tawi, Bus stand parking, major shopping centres etc. are not put in public domain before their start to take feed back/ suggestions from the citizens. As such improvement/extension of Bahu –Plaza need to be finalized by JDA with active participation of prominent citizens ,shopkeepers already operating in this complex & noted Architects/Engineers practicing in Jammu city. This can ensure better success rate in the long run as may be some better suggestions than what has been pointed out in this write-up could be brought to light through better public participation.
In conclusion, it is felt that JDA should ponder over the issues plaguing the Bahu-Plaza commercial complex and plan its expansion in a holistic manner keeping its integrated design character in mind. Very few cities in the country can boost of such type of planned shopping centres within their urban limits. With innovative and visionary efforts by JDA to bring more vibrancy in this shopping centre , it has the potential to become what Cannaught place is to Delhi or Sector-17 market is to Chandigarh city in not two distant future in Jammu city.
(The author is former Development Commissioner, J&K Government)
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