R K Handa
TRADABLE FAR/FSI:(RESOURCE MOBILISATION):
Land use fee:
The author is against this policy whereby for change in land use from residential to commercial some fee will have to be paid to JDA.This is going to destroy peace of residents in a colony.This is a bad policy in respect of environmental issues as explained above and shall create chaos.With this bad policy the residential colonies shall become congested.This will also breed corruption.
Not to talk of tradable fee ,even simple requests of the allotees, the requests are denied orally not in writing just to extract money from the applicant.Although in the master plan doctors,lawyers etc can operate from their homes but when such allottees approach for conversion from lease hold to free hold the permission is denied orally.Similarly it is taking months and years for an allottee to get the lease hold rights transferred to some other person.By processing such cases fastely the housing board or JDA will be able to generate lot of revenue but no one is bothered to look into the matter and this issue has not been discussed in the master plan for the reasons best known to JDA ,the architect of master plan.They have thought of only tradable fee.Even the lease rent is not being paid by the lessees because of dispute in increase of fee unreasonably with the result outstanding of crores of rupees is being shown by JDA / housing board in their books of accounts and the authorities are not bothered to find ways and means to recover the outstanding fee.Parking lots are not generating sufficient revenues because JDA have no formula as to how to determine the minimum acceptable bid value. In case electronic entry gates are installed the JDA will know the income of the contractor and thereafter JDA can determine the minimum bid value for the next year contract.
By developing more and more commercial and residential assets on self finance basis ,the development authority shall be in a position to mobilise its resources.The master plan is totally silent on these ways and means to increase the income and has suggested only tradable FAR/FSI .
Before issue of advertisement for allotment of plots in a new colony,the Govt should ensure that the zonal plans are ready which should also be shown in the advertisement.Building by laws should also form part of advertisement so that the intending buyers are sure as to what are they buying and the zonal plans and building bylaws should be frozen once for all.All the infrastructures should be in place so that the plots are ready for construction. In Channi Himmat Colony Roopnagar and Bantalab water remains in short supply although plots in these colonies were allotted some thirty years back.
In case of lease hold rights the agreement should be for 90 years and not for 20 or 40 years as in case of Trikutanagar and Channi Himmat colonies. Rather the plots should be allotted on free hold basis like Gandhinagar. Any building constructed has a life of more than 50 years and thus how can Govt expects to retrieve the plot after 20 or 40 years.
ENCROACHMENT OF NALLAHS:
This has not been discussed in the Master Plan.On the retaining walls of all the nallahs, people have raised the walls and constructed houses and they throw all solid and liquid wastes of their houses in these nallahs. In case of flash floods the water enters their houses causing lot of damage to their properties.What are the plans of Govt needs to be discussed and implemented in the Master Plan.
APPEAL TO ARCHITECTS:
The architects should have ethics and should not entertain a client who wishes them to prepare drawings not conforming to building bylaws.Generally two sets of drawings are being prepared,one for submission to Municipal Corporation and the other for actual execution at site.
The chief town planner in BOCA needs to visit the site atleast once in three months to ensure that the building being constructed is as per the drawings passed by the Corporation.A computerised system should be developed to ensure this compliance by the town planner. The system of issuing completion certificate is not being followed .Permanent water and electric connections should be given only on production of completion certificate.If this is followed in true sense and town planners give completion certificates only incase the building is constructed exactly as per the permission granted ,the violations in case of new buildings and even modification of existing buildings shall not take place.
The municipal corporation should develop a MIS whereby the head of the corporation can monitor the complaints of illegal construction.Simply by forwarding the complaint down the line is of no use as it does not solve the problem.
SATELLITE TOWNS:
Jammu is experiencing rapid expansion due to rural to urban migration and establishment of second dwellings by Kashmiri residents necessitates innovative strategies. Due to abrogation of Article 370, it is anticipated that new investments shall come in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh thereby adding to housing requirements .
To meet the ever increasing housing and commercial demand,satellite towns should be developed on barren lands instead of congesting the Jammu city by permitting multi-storeys and commercial use in residential colonies.In new satellite towns sufficient provision should be made for commercial activities unlike what was conceived for colonies like Gandhinagar, Trikutanagar, Channi Himmat, Bakshinagar, Roop nagar, Bantalab and so on. Provision for large play grounds and green areas should be kept in new townships. Mandatory incorporation of solar water heating and solar lighting besides rain water harvesting in new constructions is proposed.In satellite townships care needs to taken that enough corridors are reserved for overhead high tension lines,rising mains for water supply and corridors for trunk sewerage lines unlike Bombay, Delhi, Banglore and so on.
The imperative of urban development demands a meticulous reassessment of existing master plan and the initiation of fresh planning procedures,helmed by competent urban planners.Concurrently, zonal plans should have undergone rigorous preparation as in absence of zonal plans how the building plans are being approved is a mystery. A critical point of focus is the cessation of practices such as mixed land use, compounding of violations,and the regularisation of unauthorised height increments through fines, or fees. Such actions have far reaching consequences,directly impacting traffic congestion parking requirements, potable water consumption, electricity demand, sewage production, solid waste management and pollution levels.
The repercussion extend beyond mere infrastructure strains,potentially disturbing the tranquility of residents.The fear loom large that unscrupulous violators, in collaboration with the individuals in position of authority within the development authorities and municipal corporation might disturb the peace of locales.
Environmental sustainability measures include developing land fill sites, enforcing ban on single use plastics and extensive plantation drives to combat global warming is proposed.Digitisation of property records for efficient monitoring form integral components of forward looking urban planning.
An innovative proposal involves the creation of colonies specifically designed for elderly singles and couples,equipped with health facilities,libraries,clubs,walking areas,yoga spaces, prayer sites and shopping areas.
Asset maintenance ,encompassing the distribution of utilities, roads and waste water management.Although the municipal corporation has started collecting user charges but at the same time the abuser’s should also be charged which means those wasting water,spoiling roads, creating pollution by way of solid and liquid waste should be charged.To ensure transparency, projects exceeding a particular amount say Rs 20 lakhs should undergo vigilant monitoring,with quarterly reports published in media.
The core sustainability focus involves reducing non revenue water and power,emphasising energy efficient practices and privatisation of power for continuous supply.
Entrusting public urinals and toilets to experts NGOs like Sulabh International, restricting the entry of tobacco and pan masala in public buildings the overreaching principle is to cultivate a sense of responsibility and ownership among citizens,ensuring success of envisioned urban development initiatives.
Concluded
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