Common Sense

Most of our planning, and the development initiatives, violate the fundamentals of wisdom. Take the case of Srinagar city. Like any other city Srinagar won’t stop growing. It’s in the nature of a city that it spreads itself in all respects. It is like an ever growing organism. Consequently its requirements would never come to a stop. When the population grows, cultural scenario undergoes changes, commercial activities spread out, and new institutions surface up; all this is bound to put pressure on the current limits of any city. For a city like Srinagar the problems are manifold. Since our towns and villages lag behind in terms of amenities and access to outer world, it results in a ceaseless migration to the city. Similarly new businesses establish in this city, more traffic pours on its roads, the government infrastructure expands; all this means that this city would always require more space. Hence the need to plan the city, keeping in view all its needs. But Srinagar hasn’t been fortunate in this regard. Unconcerned governments, inefficient bureaucracy, and an over all atmosphere of apathy; all this cumulatively devastated the face of this city. This is the reason that life here has become impossible. Let us not deceive ourselves with those stories that Srinagar is as beautiful as Venice. One doesn’t want to be carried away by the past image of this city, and keep oneself misleading. On ground this city is crowded, and there are no amenities that a city worth its name deserves. There is no efficient waste disposal system, making the city look ugly. The dumping of garbage in the open has resulted in dogs roaming on the city roads, making the pedestrian movement unsafe. Then there is the problem of drainage. We don’t have a public transport system worth its name. There are very less, and those also mismanaged, parking lots. There are hardly any public spaces that could make the city dwellers breath some fresh air. And in all this if any space is made vacant, the government immediately fills it with some monstrous structure. Looking at all this how can one be hopeful about the future of this city.