Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Feb 1: The posh residential colonies of Srinagar where last year’s deluge caused much devastation are fast turning into commercial hubs as Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) officials are allowing construction of commercial complexes, hotels and guest houses on mass scale in these areas.
Srinagar’s Jawahar Nagar, Rajbagh, Gogjibagh, Wazirbagh and Karan Nagar which are well planned residential colonies in Srinagar city are fast turning into commercial areas in complete violation of Srinagar Master Plan guidelines.
Majority of the 75,000 houses that were damaged in last year’s deluge in Srinagar are from these areas. As per the data so far SMC has given permission for the construction of around 1100 houses while 5000 houses collapsed in Srinagar city in last year’s deluge.
One of the residents of Jawahar Nagar said that his house near Al-Farooq Masjid collapsed in the deluge and he applied for the permission to construct his house. “So far I didn’t get permission but I constructed a commercial building by paying handsome amount to the SMC officials. My plot is small still I erected a column structure with halls in every floor”, he added.
Another resident of Jawahar Nagar said that the SMC officials are facilitating the turning of these residential areas into commercial. “I got permission for construction of residential house and I constructed the commercial complex. My family doesn’t want to live here but we want to construct commercial complex”, he added.
A resident in Rajbagh area near HDFC bank is constructing a hotel in the name of Guest House when he has permission for construction of a residential house. “This all is happening in connivance with the SMC officials. The SMC is even clearing the debris from the gate of this under construction hotel”, said a resident of Rajbagh.
In Karan Nagar, which is another posh colony, huge commercial complexes are coming up on the banks of erstwhile Doodganga which over the years has been earth filled and commercial complexes were constructed on it. “The houses which stood the last year’s deluge are being dismantled and are replaced with the commercial complexes under the very nose of the SMC headquarters in Karan Nagar”, said a resident.
The residents of Karan Nagar said that they have complained about commercial complexes coming up in the area post deluge but SMC officials are turning a blind eye.
As per the residents of Karan Nagar, Jawahar Nagar, Rajbagh, Gogjibagh and Wazirbagh, 90 percent of the new constructions in these residential areas are commercial.
The Commissioner Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC), Ghulam Nabi Qasba, when asked about residential areas being turned into commercial complexes, said as per the Srinagar Master Plan, the SMC gives permissions for construction of commercial complexes in the areas between Batmaloo and Radio Kashmir. He said that in residential areas like Rajbagh, Jawahar Nagar, SMC gives permission for the construction of guest houses as per the need.
“Around 6-7 lakh tourists visit Kashmir every year and since the room capacity is low so we allow construction of guest houses in these areas by following the Municipal bylaws”, said Qasba.
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