The officials added that most of the work was implemented in the last one year. The meeting of the G20 tourism working group meeting in Srinagar pushed deadlines. With a budget of ₹980 crore, the Srinagar Smart City Limited (SSCL) has taken up 125 projects, 56 of which are complete and the are expected to be over by June next year.

HT reviewed the work done across the city.

Polo View Market

It was one of the first projects to be taken up. A fully motorable stretch, it was a high street shopping area but frequented mostly by tourists only. It was revamped into a pedestrian-only stretch with the concrete road being replaced by cobblestones, and paver blocks and tactile tiles put in place for the differently abled. Retractable iron bollards on both ends of the road were installed to restrict vehicle entry, but allow access to emergency vehicles.

Officials said that heritage buildings along the road were restored and the façade of many shops renovated. One of the most important components of this project was shifting of all overhead wiring and other utilities underground and improving drainage to prevent flooding.

“We used lessons learnt from the 2014 floods to prevent such damage. Polo View is one of the stretches that gets inundated every monsoon. We have created double drains here that will prevent flooding even during heavy rain,” said Athar Aamir Khan, commissioner, Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC), and the CEO of SSCL.

Lal Chowk

The commercial and political nerve centre of the city, Lal Chowk is known as much for its busy old market as the protests and other political activities. “Streets have traditionally been the hot spot of social, cultural, and economic activities, around which, life has revolved in cities. The active and vibrant street is an indicator of a safe and resilient city. The streets in Srinagar are marred by illegal parking, lack of safe space to walk, lack of lighting and haphazard placement of utilities,” said Anuj Malhotra, general manager (planning), SSCL.

The plan is to turn the historic square into a world-class plaza with pedestrian-friendly amenities. The Ghanta Ghar or the clock tower located in the centre of Lal Chowk was revamped and its elevation was raised by about 10 metres, with design changes and a new clock. Officials said according to the plan, one carriageway will be turned into an exclusive space for pedestrians and the opposite carriageway will have two lanes for the movement of vehicles with speed calming measures.

Additionally, 40 kilometres of road stretches emerging from Lal Chowk have been taken up for redevelopment with a special focus on ensuring pedestrian safety.

“Shifting of overhead electrical wiring and other utilities underground in an old city is a huge task involving heavy cost. There was some resistance to addition of pedestrian facilities since locals argued that it was narrowing space for vehicles. However, once we were done, the congestion on these stretches was reduced. We reclaimed most of the space for pedestrians by removing haphazard street parking,” said Khan.

Jhelum riverfront

A wide unkempt green area on the banks of Jhelum was turned to a walkable public plaza with ample seating space, the officials said. “The emphasis was on improving the quality of public spaces so that they become friendlier and more welcoming for the common citizen, helping to improve interaction and social cohesion. The riverfront of Srinagar, along the banks of river Jhelum has been envisioned as a continuous eight-kilometre-long walking and cycling space, with linear parks and numerous activities sprinkled along the way,” said Khan.

The city authorities plan to integrate the riverfront with the Dal lakefront soon so that it becomes a continuous stretch. About 40 traditional ghats along the river that were lying defunct are also being redeveloped, and will be used as ports for water transport, SSCL officials added.

Connectivity and security

SSCL officials said that by the end of this month, Srinagar will launch a 175-kilometre-long optical fibre cable (OFC) network which is set to act as the “connectivity backbone” of the city. With 96 crore OFCs, the Srinagar Data Network or SDNet will be controlled from an integrated command centre, officials said, and added that the network is “glitch-proof with multiple layers for redundancy”. The entire network is underground and spans all 66 major traffic junctions, critical public infrastructure and government offices. The city will now be monitored using over 1300 cameras installed across the city by the municipal corporation, they added.

The integrated command centre will gradually integrate a total of nearly 10,000 cameras installed by the army, local police, the city development authority and other departments.

Lessons for Srinagar from Delhi

Delhi has experimented with pedestrian-only streets, improvement of façade, drainage and removal of encroachment – concepts that form the backbone of urban revival in Srinagar -- in several areas, albeit with limited success.

Experts say that though it would not be prudent to compare the two cities because of the sheer differences in the size, population and number of vehicle, the real test of the revamp lies in sustainability.

Urban planning experts have an inside joke. They say that every great project from across the globe has seen a pilot in Delhi. However, it is very difficult to achieve anything more than a pilot in the national capital.

The pedestrianisation of the Polo View market in Srinagar finds its parallel in the experiment at the Ajmal Khan Road market in Karol Bagh. Incidentally, the same team worked on implementing the concept in Karol Bagh and Srinagar.

Karol Bagh has received attention from the state as well as central government and efforts are being made to redevelop the area for about 15 years now. Karol Bagh pedestrianisation -- involving a 1.7km stretch -- was first approved by the Delhi LG in 2009 but the project did not take off. It was identified for model decongesting project by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) with appointment of knowledge partners, one of whom was Anuj Malhotra, who is now the general manager of Srinagar Smart City Limited and has designed all of Srinagar’s projects. This project got final approval in 2019 after much effort. However, implementation has been slow and inconsistent. The design changes suggested have still not been fully implemented on the ground. The barricading is still temporary that allows people to shift it and take vehicles onto the pedestrianised stretch, while enforcement is also low.

“Consistent leadership and strong in-house planning team have helped Srinagar to achieve realisation of difficult projects like complete street development, riverfront and pedestrianisation of Polo View market. The idea of making streets on Complete Street principles was a new thing for Srinagar. There was initial resistance, but with constant dialogue with local stakeholders and after its full implementation it has become the project that has received wide acceptance. In Karol Bagh, Delhi it was similar, local stakeholders had given full support during the time of tactical implementation. One of the key elements to Polo View’s success was to move from tactical to full implementation in an unbroken sequence within a stipulated timeframe,” said Anuj Malhotra.

Experts say that Delhi does have any urban planner at any of its civic agencies, which is a drawback for the city.

The work taken up at Chandni Chowk has glimpses of the project implemented at Lal Chowk. Both areas, part of the old quarters, have heritage spaces even though Chandni Chowk was much more congested before the authorities turned the main thoroughfare a no-go zone for vehicles and installed street furniture.

However, within one year of implementation Chandni Chowk is struggling with managing street vendors, the homeless and cycle rickshaws.

“The project was initially proposed to be extended towards Jama Masjid and Chawri Bazaar areas as well. However, we are not working on those as of now. Around Chandni Chowk, enforcement is a big concern. Traffic police support is essential for the first few years to ensure enforcement till there is behavioural change,” said Nitin Panigrahi, deputy general manager, Shahjahanabad Redevelopment Corporation (SRDC) – the body that implemented pedestrianisation in Chandni Chowk.

“Lal Chowk has a different model as we have a management program in place. We are in the process of hiring an agency for the long term operation and maintenance of the redesigned stretches and have set aside funds for it, which is key to sustaining the infrastructure,” said Malhotra.

He added that Delhi’s Chandni Chowk redevelopment also has good quality and design and can be brough back to life with regular management and maintenance.

On the riverfront development, the two cities have their unique profiles. The Yamuna floodplains constitute a huge part of the cityscape unlike the Jhelum riverfront in Srinagar where the SCCL has taken up redevelopment. However, Srinagar will have to lay down an extensive sewerage network to prevent the city from dumping its waste into the river. Though Delhi is taking up several projects to develop the riverfront, but the river pollution is yet to abate. Like Delhi, most of the sewage from Srinagar goes into Jhelum, so if it is not trapped, the riverfront will not be as welcoming for visitors as it would be if the river stays clean, experts said.

“Riverfront development can be a tricky project. A trap that authorities often fall for is using exotic species of plants like palm for beautification. The greening of the area should be integrated with the local environment and native trees or flowers should be used to ensure that they last longer,” said Victor Shinde, team lead for water/river management, National Institute of Urban Affairs.

He added that the activities planned around the riverfront should not disturb the natural environment of the river. “Public spaces need engagement activities to attract people. However, the threshold of disturbance of the river should not be breached,” said Shinde.

Experts speak

Experts add that apart from enforcement, new projects also need soft measures to ensure that the new infrastructure survives. “These projects should be developed with 100% participation of people. They need to own the project, feel responsible and enjoy it. Also, maintaining cycle tracks requires trained bicycle officers, not the conventional police who are tuned to prioritise vehicles,” said Tikender Singh Panwar, former deputy mayor of Shimla and expert on development in hill states.

Sewa Ram, Professor, transport planning, School of Planning and Architecture, said no footpath or cycling track is useful if it is made for a short distance. “Often, these are narrow strips and vendors are kept away to stop encroachment. This is a wrong practice. The footpath and cycling tracks should be wide enough and vendors should be encouraged as these are ‘eyes of the streets’ who keep these tracks safe and usable. Wide spaces will also be used as public spaces where activities can be planned to engage the youth. Youngsters, especially in a tourist city like Srinagar, like such spaces to get together, and they also add to the safety of the place,” he said.