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| SDA to convert flood basin into satellite-township | | Srinagar being made more flood-prone; civil society to file PIL | | Hyder Ali
Early Times Report
srinagar, May 11: Taking no lessons from the trail of destruction left behind by the September-2014 floods in the summer capital Srinagar, the Government is contemplating to landfill a crucial flood basin near Bemina here for construction of "Noida-like satellite-township."
The Srinagar Development Authority (SDA) is contemplating to develop a "model township" at Rakh-e-Gundak Shah, which is a waterbody. Rakh in Kashmiri means semi-cultivable marsh, which usually serves as flood basin during rainy spells.
Officials said around 5000 kanals of low lying land on the Bemina outskirts, would be massively land filled for the construction of the proposed township.
Official sources said this all was being done to please a top politician from the ruling coalition who "wants to strengthen his voter base in the constituency through further urbanization." Sources said he aspires to encash the development in the name of mini city, which will fetch estimated around 50,000 more souls to this constituency.
Sources said some officials have misinformed Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh who is also the Minister for Housing about the project, only to be in the good books of the blue-eyed politician who eyes the virgin land.
Environment experts fear that the development will come at the cost of ecological imbalance, which will only make Srinagar more flood-prone than before.
Officials of the Irrigation and Flood Control Department (IFCD) confirmed that over the years, the Rakh-e-Gundak Shah has turned crucially important for rainy spells when it serves as flood basin.
"Any two-to three day of rains leave this area flooded with 10 to 12 feet high waters. If this virgin zone on the City outskirts is pushed to urbanization, Srinagar will definitely turn more vulnerable to floods," said a top official of the IFCD asking not to be named.
Showing some pictures captured a few days ahead of 2014 floods, the officials said, the area surrounding Rakh-e-GundakShah was flooded, two days before of the major devastation hit elsewhere.
"By September 5, waters had risen to first floors in areas like Parimpora and Hamdaniya colony which fall in the vicinity of Rakh-e-GundakShah," said the official.
He said otherwise also, in the previous years, including 2006 when minor floods hit Srinagar from time to time, this particular area falling in west of City was flooded to 10 to 12 feet of waters.
This marsh falls in the vicinity of Srinagar's major flood spill channel, which flows down the south of the City. Experts said filling this waterbody would put pressure on entire south city making it more flood prone.
Explaining their point, the experts said the flood waters would affect life upstream the flood spill channel in areas like Hyderpora, Barzulla, Pir Bagh, Chanapora, Natipora, Sanat Nagar, Rawalpora, Nowgam, Kanipora, Narkara and Humhama.
"South city is most urbanized area falling along the flood spill channel, which snakes along the Rakh-e-GundakShah basin. Filling the vast low-lying area downstream will obviously have adverse impact on residential colonies upstream," explained a retired Chief Engineer of IFC department.
Though the proposal to develop this waterbody into residential colony had been there for the past few years, it was turned down after the massive floods two years ago while the State High Court has been monitoring such developments.
However after the formation of the new Government in 2015, sources said, a top politician prevailed upon the SDA to revive the proposal. Sources said even though some officials objected to this proposal in wake of bitter experience of floods, such voices were strategically gagged.
"Basically the shady lobbying started through a Wazwan party hosted by him (politician) asking the SDA employees to be with him or against him," the sources said.
As of now, when the Peoples Democratic Party - Bharatiya Janata Party alliance is in second innings, the plan has gained momentum again. Recently Abdul Aziz Khawaja, a senior official at SDA confirmed to media persons that the area would be land-filled for construction of satellite-township.
The SDA officials said the constructions would be targeted at developing Middle Income Group (MIG) town with an overall population of about 50,000 people and cater to the needs of economically weaker sections to the higher income groups. The flat size for Higher Income Group is estimated to be 1300-1800 square feet whereas for Middle and Lower Income Groups, would be 1000-1300 and 600 sft respectively.
A civil society group has decided to move High Court. "We will pray before the High Court to make this issue part of the ongoing PIL, or treat it as another PIL, which is monitoring measures to prevent further floods in Srinagar," a senior lawyer told Early Times.
The SDA confirmed that the project was under active consideration. However, the official said the concerned including Irrigation and Flood Control Department and the Environmental Committee would be taken into confidence if people have any apprehensions. |
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