CM Omar Abdullah stresses on adopting urban planning strategies for planned development

JAMMU : Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Wednesday chaired a series of meetings to review and discuss implementation of proposed urban planning schemes and policies aimed at transforming the urban landscape of Jammu and Kashmir to bring about planned development in urban areas.
During the meeting, the Chief Minister was briefed on the Land Pooling Policy, including its background, guiding principles, and objectives. Under the land pooling policy, developers or private land owners shall come together to pool their land and obtain authorization for development.
While authorizing development, the concerned urban governance agencies shall keep sufficient land for development of infrastructure, wide roads, parks, open spaces and other amenities and the remaining land would be returned to the landowners which they would share proportionately among themselves.
The benefits of land pooling for various stakeholders would be that the value of land increases for the landowners and better infrastructure gets created as compared to the irregular land plots pooled by the landowners developing that land parcel.
This would help in creation of infrastructure as a sustainable alternative to conventional land acquisition methods. The scheme is aimed tobe a win-win situation for both the government and various stakeholders, including individual landowners and real estate developers.
The meeting also delved into the Transferable Development Rights (TDR) Policy, focusing on its broad contours, objectives and mechanisms. The potential use of TDR for heritage properties, ensuring their preservation while enabling urban growth was also discussed. Under TDR scheme, for the land surrendered by a land owner or a developer free-of-cost for public purposes such as road widening, public passage, for conservation, heritage and other infrastructure development, shall be granted a non-financial compensation in the form of a TDR certificate specifying the Built-Up Area (BUA) or Floor Area Ratio (FAR) given to a land owner or developer which he can utilize in remaining part of his property or build elsewhere and even monetize by selling TDR to any other developer or user in receiving areas.. This would allow developers to build over and above the permissible Floor Area Ratio (FAR) for the land surrendered in congested areas.
The concept of Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) was also discussed, with emphasis on its objectives to promote sustainable urban mobility and to ensure planned development around public transport stations. The stipulations of TOD would facilitate compact, walkable urban spaces around transit hubs.
Separate discussions were held on proposed services under Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM) for municipalities and urban local bodies across Jammu and Kashmir. Presentations by Housing & Urban Development department outlined strategies for collection, transportation and processing of solid waste.
Chief Minister exhorted the Housing & Urban Development Department to initiate implementation by taking up projects under Land pooling, TDR & TOD to create few success stories which would infuse confidence among stakeholders to adopt these urban planning strategies for overall development of our cities.
Besides, the meeting discussed management of waste disposal facilities, cleaning of roads, drains and waterbodies on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model.
A presentation on the challenges of solid waste management in Udhampur district depicted dumping of daily waste at landfills resulting in choking of drains and water channels.
Proposed solutions discussed included waste segregation, recycling mechanisms, and pollution control machinery to tackle these pressing issues effectively.
Representatives of the National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID) also delivered a separate presentation. The discussion focused on infrastructure development projects across Jammu and Kashmir.
The meetings were attended by Advisor to the Chief Minister Nasir Aslam Wani, Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo, Additional Chief Secretary to the CM Dheeraj Gupta, Principal Secretary Finance Santosh D Vaidya, Commissioner Secretary Housing & Urban Development Department Mandeep Kaur, and other senior officials. Officers based in Srinagar participated through video conferencing.