At last, Anantnag set to receive its master plan
Anantnag, Mar 23: After years of delay, the much-awaited draft master plan for Anantnag town is set to be submitted to the government by the end of this month. "The land use draft master plan is almost ready and will be submitted soon," said Chief Town Planning Officer (CTP) Bilkees Jeelani. She said that the draft would be made public for review, allowing suggestions and objections for at least sixty days. A multi-faceted committee will scrutinise the report before submitting it to the office of the Deputy Commissioner for further evaluation. Once finalised, the draft will be sent to the cabinet for approval. The proposal for a structured master plan has been in limbo for several years.
In 2020, a consultancy—MS Institute for Spatial Planning and Environment Research (ISPER), Panchkula-Haryana—was engaged under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme to prepare the plan. However, the process was hindered due to a lack of funds. Once the funds were finally released, the consultancy presented a preliminary draft and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), paving the way for a contract award.
“We will be submitting our final draft to CTP’s office within a week,” said the consultancy in –charge, Mohsin Malik. An earlier in-house draft master plan, prepared in 2014, was discarded as it did not meet required standards. In March 2017, the Housing and Urban Development Department (HUDD) directed the Town Planning Office of Kashmir (TPOK) to hire three professionals on a contractual basis for a year to prepare the plan. However, this effort also did not materialise. Anantnag, known for its gushing springs and historical significance, has seen unchecked expansion due to the absence of a master plan. The town, once adorned with open spaces, has lost much of its charm due to unregulated construction.
An official lamented that despite being the largest town in Kashmir in terms of area and population, Anantnag still lacks a structured master plan. The unchecked development has led to congested streets, frequent traffic jams, and encroachments on vital water bodies such as Aaripat stream, Ladi-Laizbal irrigation canal, and various flood channels. Streams like Nagbal at Mattan Chowk and Dangerpora, as well as Gajinag springs at Kadipora, have been reduced to mere drains. Most roads, including Cheeni-Chowk-Malakhnag-Sherpora; Janglat Mandi-Sherpora-Donipawa, Sherbagh-Reeshi Bazar, Kadipora-Sarnal, Mattan Chowk- Dangerpora- Court road are too narrow, making navigation difficult for both vehicles and pedestrians. Areas along the Khanabal-Pahalgam (KP) road and Khanabal-Mehandi Kadal- Bypass road, which should be preserved as green zones, have witnessed rampant commercial and residential construction. The town has experienced rapid urbanization, with its density reaching as high as 1,250 people per square kilometer.
Officials suggest that the new master plan should be holistic with focus more on transportation and public utilities rather than on constructions only. “New residential colonies should be developed to ease congestion in the old town”.
He attributed frequent fire incidents in the old town to the congestion and lack of fire proof mechanism. Recently on the afternoon of March 20, a fierce inferno swept through the congested by-lane of Gajinag-Kadipora reducing over twenty homes to rubble and leaving more than forty families without shelter. "The government had already designated plots at High Ground for the Fatehgarh residential colony before the 1990s, but the project was unfortunately shelved," an official said. He said that the government should reconsider the proposal to curb the conversion of agricultural land in nearby villages. Residential areas that have emerged in the last two decades along Khanabal-Pahalgam (KP) road stretch of town and Achajipora-Moominabad lack proper planning, drainage, and road networks.
The poor drainage system, coupled with encroachments on water bodies, leads to flooding in the town during the rainy season. Local residents believe that the available land at High Ground could be utilised for developing sports infrastructure and technical colleges. "A cricket stadium and technical colleges can be established there," suggested Kusar Majeed, a resident. He said the importance of preserving the town’s green spaces, including sericulture land and the Karewas at Sarnal hillock, by declaring them green belts. "This area has immense tourism potential if properly developed, and any further construction should be discouraged," he said.
