From The Hindu · Tikender Singh Panwar · · 1m 20s
Srinagar's building boom threatens mountain limits
Jammu and Kashmir is loosening construction rules faster than Srinagar can absorb them, ignoring warnings that mountain towns have carrying capacity.
In brief
Jammu and Kashmir is loosening construction rules faster than Srinagar can absorb them, ignoring warnings that mountain towns have carrying capacity. Srinagar faces uncontrolled building growth as Jammu and Kashmir repeatedly raised construction limits without checking the city's environmental capacity. Originally…
Two conversations not converging
Everyone agrees mountain towns are reaching their limits. Springs dry up, lakes choke, slopes give way. Yet Jammu and Kashmir keeps making building easier, overwhelming Srinagar.
“No hill town should approve large construction before measuring what it can carry.”
Floor Area Ratio raised repeatedly
Floor Area Ratio determines how much floor space can be built on a plot. An FAR of two hundred percent on a hundred square metre plot allows two hundred square metres of floor space.
Nine months of rule changes
Building by-laws were amended December one, twenty twenty-five.July twenty-four, twenty twenty-six, they extended to Housing Board colonies with additional FAR and reduced setbacks.
Ease of Doing Business Bill becomes law
On September twenty-eight, the Ease of Doing Business Bill, twenty twenty-six, was tabled in the Assembly. In the first week of October, the Lieutenant Governor gave assent and the Bill became law.
Suspend rules until they fit the plan
The author calls for suspending Floor Area Ratio and land-use exemptions, along with Section twenty-two, until they are brought within the Master Plan framework and subjected to public objections.
“Suspend the FAR and land-use exemptions, along with Section 22, until they are brought within the Master Plan framework and subjected to public objections”
In short
Srinagar faces uncontrolled building growth as Jammu and Kashmir repeatedly raised construction limits without checking the city's environmental capacity.
