Srinagar: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha Wednesday said that the existing land laws were regressive, which made the land reforms mandatory.
An official spokesman in a statement issued here said that laying the foundation stone of Srinagar Development Authority (SDA)’s satellite township at Rakh Gund Aksha and a housing colony at Bemina in Srinagar, the LG congratulated the SDA officials for developing the first of its kind satellite township in Kashmir division.
He said that the new initiative was aimed to decongest the city and to meet the needs of affordable homes for the growing population.
“The housing colony ‘Shehjar Heights’ is a symbol of aspiration of the middle class. The two projects will not only provide quality and valuable space for families but also become the driver of economic development and unlock the potential of local economies,” the LG said.
He emphasised on accelerating the speed and scale of the development to meet the requirements of the increasing population.
The LG directed the Housing and Urban Development Department (HUDD) to conduct periodic review of the projects to ensure that these projects were completed within the timeframe.
“The township will be self-contained with building infrastructure for businesses, offices, commercial, and institutional buildings, hotels and other facilities designed to make living and working comfortable,” he said. “A Medicity and a new High Court complex are coming up adjacent to the township that will make the entire area another bustling centre of activity in the vicinity of Srinagar.”
The LG said that the township would also have clusters of planned housing with neighbourhood level health and education facilities.
“‘Shehjar Heights’ housing colony at Bemina will have a peripheral road network with pavements, club house with swimming pool and gymnasium, community hall, shopping mall,” he said.
Highlighting the efforts of the government to rejuvenate the urban landscape in J&K, the LG said that cities and towns of J&K were experiencing a transformational urbanism that had been achieved through excellence in infrastructure planning and execution and stimulated local development.
“The ongoing transformation in Srinagar, Jammu, and their neighbouring towns is the harbinger of sustainable development,” the LG said.
Observing that housing was the most important component of city’s development and also defines the culture of that city, he stressed that infrastructure being developed should reflect our cities’ aesthetic and cultural values.
“Satellite townships and housing colonies will accelerate economic activities in J&K, supplement our efforts to overcome challenges of urbanisation and provide better housing facilities to the people. It will also generate large-scale skilled and unskilled employment,” the LG said. “Seamless service delivery, housing, and infrastructure development as per people’s needs should be a major component of the master plan. We also need to change our approach and special attention should be paid to fulfill the needs of the citizens living in towns.”
He also called upon the elected public representatives and people to play their important role in the successful conduct of G20 presidency events.
The LG also sought suggestions from them to make the visit of delegates and people coming from across the world memorable.
Mayor SMC Junaid Azim Mattu and Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta also spoke on the occasion and underscored the need to develop satellite townships and housing colonies to meet the growing housing requirements of the urban population.
Principal Secretary to the Government, HUDD Sh Dheeraj Gupta briefed on the newly launched housing projects.
DDC Chairperson Srinagar Aftab Malik, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Pandurang K Pole, Deputy Commissioner Srinagar Muhammad Aijaz, Commissioner SMC Athar Aamir Khan, and VC SDA Haris Ahmad Handoo also present on the occasion.