Srinagar vital economic link for state, says master plan

Azhar Qadri

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, June 24

Srinagar, the commercial nerve centre of Kashmir and also the half-yearly seat of the government, is the vital economic link for the state and any threat of disaster may have cascading effects, an official document has warned.

The document warned that the gross state domestic product (GSDP) is concentrated on the “critical functions” provided by the city, making it a “vital economic link” for the entire state.

“The concentration of the GDP within the state on critical functions provided by Srinagar makes it a vital economic link for not just the city’s residents, but also for the entire state and region,” the state government-approved master plan-2035 has warned.

The threat of disasters to the city, which was devastated by floods five years ago and also falls in high seismic activity zone, however, poses risk to the state’s economy. The projected estimate of the GSDP for the year 2018-19 is Rs 1,57,383.77 crore.

The Kashmir valley faced the brunt of two major disasters in the past two decades that included the 2005 earthquake that largely impacted parts of north Kashmir and the 2014 floods which were concentrated in Srinagar.

“Effects of a disaster on the city will put the stakes of the entire state at risk due to this economic dependence, and thus this vulnerability ranks high in the risk assessment of the city,” it warned.

The master plan — a guiding document for the development and planning of Srinagar city — was drafted by the Town Planning Organisation, Kashmir, and approved earlier this year by the State Administrative Council headed by Governor Satya Pal Malik.

Srinagar remains the nodal point of economic activity of the state as it houses Valley’s major industrial areas, factories, offices and also serves as the capital of the state during the summer months. An example of Srinagar’s importance in Kashmir’s economy can be gauged from the fact that it contributed Rs 984.11 crore sales tax in 2016-2017 when the total sales tax realised from Kashmir division was Rs 1,401.74 crore.