URBAN MANAGEMENT AND GOVERNANCE KHURSHID AHMAD SHAH
CODE NO. URP-1012
Introduction to Srinagar
Srinagar city is located at an average elevation of 5400 meters above mean sea level and it is spread over in the heart of the oval shaped Valley of Kashmir. It is
situated between 740-56’ and 750-79’ East Longitude and 330-18’ and 340-45’ North Latitude. The city as well as its hinterland is bounded by natural wall of
mountains (sub-mountain branches of Pir Panjal Ranges and Zanskar mountains).In the east city is bounded by Zabarwan mountains with lush green
vegetation, locating famous Dachigam Sanctuary and Mughal Gardens and is environed by the shallow and swampy lakes of Dal and Nagin with the
eminence of hillocks of Takth-i-Suliman in the east and Kohi-Maraan (Hariparbat) in the centre adding to its beauty and making surroundings of the
Srinagar is well connected with other District Headquarter Towns, Tourist Resorts, Ladakh and Jammu Division of the State. Because of its locational
advantage of being located in the heart of Kashmir Valley, it has acquired greater degree of centrality despite the constraints which the surroundings
and Physiography of the region pose to the physical growth of the city. Being the capital city and the largest urban settlement, it has become hub of major administrative, political, economic, commercial and other activities. It also acts
as major tourist destination and terminating centre in Kashmir Valley. It constitutes 73.18 per cent of the urban population of Valley and 48.55 per cent
urban settlement system in Kashmir with pronounced regional urban primacy.
Evolution of Srinagar city
Srinagar city being located in the heart of Kashmir valley has served as a city from historic times was founded by King Ashoka in 250 B.C18. The growth of
the city has occurred haphazardly and its spatial expansion is closely associated and dependent on population growth. The uneven and unplanned growth of
the city has given rise to a number of problems like loss of water bodies and agricultural land, poor housing infrastructure, sewage and drainage problem
etc. The internal morphology of Srinagar city is under constant changing because of the changing land use pattern of the city and its surrounding areas.
The rate at which agriculture and water area is decreasing is of serious concern which needs immediate and decisive policy making. The future growth of the city is confined due to presence of some natural barriers around the city. The
problems of Srinagar city are basically the result of either the growth of population or the physical expansion of the city. The population growth and
urbanization are leading to over utilization of resources, thus exerting pressure on the limited resources and amenities of Srinagar city.
Srinagar Municipal corporation introduction (Abstract)
The Srinagar Municipality has been established in the year 1886 pursuant to
the J&K Municipal Act No: 16 of 1886. At that time its area was 8 Sq. Miles and its population was 18060. The city of Srinagar (Municipal limits) has registered a considerable growth and expansion in its limits during 122 years of its
existence. In the year 1971 Srinagar city municipal limits comprised of 103 Sq. Kms and in the year 1981 the area was 210 Sq. Kms. Consequent to further
growth of population of Srinagar City from 4.23 lacs in the year 1971 to approximately 12.00 lacs in the year 2008 excluding the floating population has
exerted tremendous pressure on the city in terms of basic amenities and infrastructural facilities including Solid Waste Management Services. The
stupendous expansion of city limits has also resulted in mushroom growth of urban habitats, new colonies and degradation of environmental standards.
However, consequent upon the devolution of powers in terms of 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992, the Srinagar Municipality has been now
up-graded into the Srinagar Municipal Corporation on 18th February, 2003 in terms of Government Notification S.R.O. 46 issued under the provisions of Jammu and Kashmir Municipal Corporation Act, 2000. The numbers of
Municipal Administrative Wards have been increased from 23 to 34 for efficient and proper municipal administration. Similarly the Electoral Wards
Deliberative wing
The Municipal Corporation has the same structure that is prevalent world over. The legislative wing of the Corporation, commonly known as Deliberative
Wing, consisting of elected representatives known as Municipal Councillors.
The body of the Councillors is known as General Council, that elects two
Councillors as Mayor and Deputy Mayor,
The General Council is assisted by four Standing Committees viz. General Functions Committee, Finance and Planning Committee, Public Health and
Mayor meetings and its decisions termed as resolution for implementation.
Standing Committees
General Function
The Mayor shall be the chairman of the General Functions Committee and the Commissioner shall be the ex-officio member. The General Functions Committee shall perform functions relating to the establishment, matters communications, Works, construction of buildings and roads, housing, relief against natural calamities and all miscellaneous residuary matters
Finance And Planning
The Deputy Mayor shall be the Chairman of the Finance and Planning Committee and the Commissioner shall be the ex-officio member. The Finance and Planning Committee shall perform the functions relating to the finances of the Corporation, preparation of budget, scrutinizing proposals; for increase of revenue including taxes, , sales and leases of Corporation properties, examinations of schedule of rates, consideration of all proposals affecting the finances of the Corporation and general supervision of the revenue and expenditure of the Corporation and any other functions relating to the development of the municipal area.
Public Health And
Sanitation
The Public Health and Sanitation Committee shall perform functions relating to the health, sanitation, water supply, drainage and sewage disposal. One of its members is elected to act as the Chairman and the Commissioner shall be the ex-officio member.
Deputy Mayor
Executive Wing
The executive wing of the Corporation is known as administration. The Chief
Executive of the Corporation is Municipal Commissioner, who is a senior government officer deputed by the State Government to run the
administration of the Corporation. The Commissioner is assisted by Joint Commissioner Administration; in town planning assisted by joint Commissioner (Planning), and in works by Joint Commissioner (Works).
Roles and Responsibilities
The Srinagar Municipal Corporation has to discharge multifarious duties and
functions to provide civic facilities to the residents of Srinagar City as also to the floating population, which come to Srinagar for different purposes. The
Corporation is trying its best by utilizing its available resources, both men and machinery, to provide at least basic civic amenities/facilities, if not what the
Corporation is generally supposed to. In view of its limited internal resources the Government is providing necessary funds/grant in aid to the Corporation for maintaining its day to day affairs.
As at present the Corporation is controlled, supervised, looked after and
Operations Controlling Authority and Principal City Census Officer.
The Joint Commissioner (Adm.) deals with general administration, revenue and estates, personnel administration. He also functions as City Census Officer and
Public Information Officer.
Joint Commissioner (Works)
The Joint Commissioner (works) deals with the civil works of the Corporation, who is assisted by Executive Engineers (Right and Left Divisions.
Joint Commissioner (Town Planning)
The Joint Commissioner (Town Planning) deals with town planning & building
regulations.
Chief Accounts Officer
Chief Accounts Officer is normally deputed by the State Finance Department,
deals with and looks after all financial matters of the Corporation. He also functions as Financial Advisor and Drawing and Disbursing Authority of the
Corporation. He is assisted by the Assistant Accounts Officer and other subordinate staff.
Secretary
The Secretary functions as the Secretary of the elected body of the
Corporation, and is Member-Secretary of all Statutory Committees. Under the Corporation Act he is the bridge between the Corporation and the executive.
functions as Electoral Registration Officer for election related work and Departmental Vigilance Officer.
Senior Administrative Officer
The Senior Administrative Officer is the senior level administrative officer
dealing with general and personnel administration of the Corporation. The officer manages the O&M, HRD, administrative reforms & reorganization.
Health Officer
Every function relating to health and sanitation is being looked after by the
Health officer. The Health Officer is being assisted by Municipal Veterinary Officer in respect of veterinary matters, Food Inspectors in respect of PFA Act. He also functions as Registrar Births and Deaths in Srinagar.
Divisional Town Planners
Corporation borne officers, who supervise and execute all developmental works and activities under various schemes/plans, creations of assets for the Corporation, development of parks within their respective jurisdictions under
Executive Engineers, Assistant Engineers and Junior Engineers, Works Supervisors and the other subordinate ministerial staff.
Chief Khilaf-warzi Officer
He is responsible for regulation of building activities and the field, both
authorized and unauthorized. For removal of encroachments, unauthorized occupations or unauthorized constructions he is assisted by his team.
Chief Revenue Officer
Revenue is the back bone of the Corporation which is being looked after by the
Chief Revenue Officer, assisted by the Revenue Officer, Additional Revenue Officer, Assistant Revenue Officer and other subordinate staff, besides Estates Officer in respect of municipal properties and estates.
Chief Sanitation Officer
The officer is senior officer responsible for supervision of city sanitation. He is
assisted in his work by the two Municipal Sanitation Officers and Compost Officer.
Purchase Officer
Every kind of purchases, which are being made for the corporation are being
processed and looked after by the Purchase & Procurement Officer, before and after these are approved by the respective Standing Committees
The Stores Officer looks after different stores i.e. Mechanical Store, Conservancy store, electric store, central store. The records to this effect are
being maintained by the respective store keepers.
Officer Sr. Informatics
The officer is looking after the computerization of the corporation, instituting solutions for administrative areas and presently undertaking office-automation
with effective use of information technology in the Municipal administrative areas. Besides looking after the human resource development and is arranging
and imparting training to municipal staff. He also functions as Nodal Officer for e-Governance of the Corporation.
Sr. Law Officer
He is responsible in dealing, defending and conducting the cases instituted by and against the Corporation in various courts and forums through the services
of a team of legal counsels. He is assisted by the Law Officer, Legal Assistant and the subordinate staff.
Public Relations Officer
For redress of grievances of the general public the problems are brought by
him to the notice of concerned officers. All advertisements/notices are issued through him to the press and electronic media.
Transport Officer
duty. He is assisted by Inspector Vehicles, Yard Master and Deputy Yard Master.
Solid Waste ManagementOfficer
The officer holding the post looks after the solid waste management in the City
of Srinagar. The tenacious job of dumping site falls within his domain.
Assistant Secretary (Personnel)
The service record of all the Municipal born officers and employees is being maintained in the two establishment sections supervision of Assistant
Secretary (Personnel). He is being assisted by the subordinate staff deployed in the two sections.
Assistant Secretary (General)
Revenue Generation
The Corporation has been authorized to impose the following taxes and fee
subject to approval of State Government as per the Jammu & Kashmir
Corporation Act. 2000.
1. Taxes on buildings and lands
2. Such other tax, at such rates as the state government may, by notification,
in each case direct;
3. A duty on the transfer of immovable properties situated within the limits
of the municipal area.
4. A tax on profession, trades, callings and employments
5. A tax on vehicles other than motor vehicles and animals
6. A tax on the increase in urban land values caused by the execution of any development or improvement work
7. Show tax;
8. Tax on consumption of energy at a rate not exceeding 2 paisa for every unit of electricity consumed by any person within the municipal area; 9. Sewerage tax
Subject to the prior approval of the Government, the Corporation may in the manner prescribed levy a fee with regard to the following
STATEMENT OF RECEIPTS
Sr. No. Head of Income Year 2008-09
01. Rent 65.37
02. Fee 280.30
03. License fee 19.91
04. Infringement of Municipal Byelaws/Fines -
05. Service Charges 8.34
06. Compounding fee 2.57
07. Taxes 10.08
08. Offensive Trade 0.16
09. Refund, recoveries and Deposits 0.69
10. PWD/Works Division Receipts 0.65
11. Miscellaneous 34.21
12. Premium 105.93
13. Sanitation Fee 21.80
Total 603.01
i. A fee on advertisements other than advertisements in the newspapers; ii. A fee on building applications;
iii. Development fee for providing and maintaining civic amenities in certain areas;
iv. A fee with regard to lighting; v. A fee with regard to scavenging;
vi. A fee in the nature of costs for providing internal services in a building scheme or town planning scheme
Assessment of the city
Srinagar has one the old municipal corporations in place like other cities in the
world. It has been assigned all functions, duties and powers to function as a local urban body. In terms of service delivery the corporation is offering the services of water supply, sanitation, solid waste collection, road sweeping etc.
Municipality in coordination with the water works department is supplying drinking water to the municipal areas but it has failed in providing water to
urban poor, slum pockets and the high altitudes. At the same time they are not capable of proper collection of the user fees for water supply.
Sanitation is Srinagar city is in its worst form. All the waste water is being disposed into open drains which lead to nowhere and start accumulation at
low lying areas and pollutes environment severely. The wetlands have also been destroyed by the untreated sewage. There has been no city sanitation
plan in practice and as a result it is most hazardous for people and its environs.
For the investment point of view Srinagar is least investing friendly city of
India given its political and geographical position? The policies are much rigid for foreign investment and there is inadequate infrastructure in place for investors to begin with. The basic services like water supply, electricity,
transport are less developed to support future investment.
Srinagar is one of the unsafe cities for its people and outsiders to live and
work. There are frequent strikes day in and day out which render people jobless and the uncertainty increases for the working class of the city. The
for women class to work in Srinagar city given the time and security issues prevailing.
Municipality has the monopoly in the Srinagar where decision making process is one sided game. People do not have any opportunity to participate in the
decision making process. Most inhabitants even do not know their municipal officers in place and the functions they carry. The services provided by the
municipality is restricted to the elite section of the society where as other common mass are unaware of the services likely to be provided.
In Srinagar city the minorities are Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, gojjar, bakarwals etc. minorities like Hindus, Sikhs and Christians are more involved in functions of city making and service delivery. These sections have historic advantage in
Srinagar city as they were most educated and open minded people. Others sections of minorities are living in miserable conditions.
There are hardly any workshops, debates, conferences and community meetings in the city to apprise people about the condition of city and the
policies and programmes adopted for betterment of the Srinagar city. Srinagar is a forgotten heaven which people can dream about but cannot live and work.
Conclusion
Sanitation programme
The Srinagar Municipal Corporation explored the possibility of privatizing the
“sanitation” by introducing “Sanitation Club Scheme” for providing facilities in
the specified area. Under the scheme each house hold, who would become
member of the Club, is required to pay an amount of Rs. 50/- per month as Sanitation fee. The setup of the said club is usually being done in association
to door of garbage collection. The transportation of the garbage of the areas is accordingly being scheduled by the Corporation. In terms of the scheme the
amount recovered from the members of the club is itself utilized for engagement of casual labourers. At some places, both in civil as well as down
town areas, some people showed their willingness and readiness to become members of Sanitation Clubs and with their cooperation till more than 150
