Srinagar is least liveable in country
SRINAGAR : Marred by militancy, political unrest, administrative clampdowns and stalled development as a result, especially in the past few years, Srinagar, which was once known as the city of gardens and clean water bodies, has found its place at the bottom in the Ease of Living Index-2020 released by the Union housing and urban affairs ministry.
However, officials believe that as many projects are underway in the city, its ranking was likely to improve in the future.
Deputy commissioner Shahid Iqbal Choudhary said many projects under the Smart City mission have been taken up which will restore Srinagar’s beauty.
“The work has already started on various fronts and projects. Also, some of the parameters on which we have worked were not been included in this year’s survey, affecting the city’s rankings,” he said. While Bangalore has been ranked on top followed by Pune and Ahmedabad among cities with a population of more than a million, Bareilly, Dhanbad and Srinagar are placed at the bottom. “Unfortunately, political unrest and red-tapism are one of the reasons for the poor ranking, besides, policymakers are not among the people who can understand the needs and requirements of the local people. So, implementation of the right policy for the right place taking the demographics into consideration will help in improving the ease of living standards,” opined Dr Umar Nazir Tibet Baqal, a prominent businessman of the city.former municipal commissioner Shafkat Khan said there has been mass lawlessness posteruption of militancy in the 1990 and large-scale violations of the master plan in the city.
“Unplanned urbanisation of Srinagar is a huge setback in land-use issues. The other criteria are being taken up now in the Smart City plan and various central schemes of the Government of India and are being taken up aggressively by the L-G administration,” he added.
The 15 evaluation criteria included in the ranking are governance, identity and culture, education, health, safety and security, economy, affordable housing, land use planning, public open spaces, transportation and mobility, assured water supply, waste-water management, solid waste management, power, and quality of environment.
“The capital city gets frequently waterlogged, and flooding seems to have become a permanent feature. Apart from this, worst civic sense, vehicle parking, shopping and recreational activities are missing here due to which the pressure is mounting on whatever space is available within the city. Hydrological systems and solid waste management are also inadequate. The breathing space we had in the form of lakes, water bodies, grasslands and green cover is shrinking rapidly. Even the Zabarwan Mountains have taken a huge hit and the flood basin of the Jhelum river is non-existent and there is hardly anything left to reclaim,” said Jaleel Jeelani, an environmental filmmaker.
Many people, however, say the survey has revealed the truth about the top city of J&K. “The placing of Srinagar at the bottom completely contradicts the projections of Srinagar as a smart city by the officials. Irrespective of the official claims, every resident here knows that the city lags behind even on the basic parameters such as roads, water and electricity. Conflict has often been used as an excuse by the authorities for unplanned development in the city,” said Gowhar Ahmad, who works with an NGO.