Srinagar: The J&K High Court today closed a public interest litigation regarding lack of open or green spaces in the cities of Jammu and Srinagar saying that it is satisfied that the authorities are taking necessary steps for maintenance and preservation of the green space and parks.
Chief Justice N. Kotiswar Singh and M Khajuria Kazmi after perusing the official responses said “this court is satisfied that the authorities are doing the needful for maintenance and preservation of the green spaces and parks. We are of the view that it may not be necessary for us to monitor the same at this stage and accordingly, the present PIL is closed with the above observations.”
However, the bench granted the liberty to the petitioner for reactivation of the PIL if the authorities do not continue with, or fail to maintain and preserve the green spaces and parks.
The PIL was registered after the court took cognizance of letters moved by Justice (retd.) Bilal Nazki, on May, 16, 2016 and July, 24, 2017 regarding lack of open or green spaces in the cities of Jammu and Srinagar, especially Srinagar.
The letter stated that in cities of Delhi, Chandigarh and Gandhinagar, the green space per capita is 22 sq.mtrs, 55 sq.mtrs and 160 sq.mtrs respectively.
But in Jammu and Srinagar, it is dismal as the green space per capita is 1.86 sq.mtrs and 2.60 sq.mtrs respectively, as against the international standard laid down by the World Health Organization (WHO) of minimum of 9 sq.mtrs per capita, the letter said.
It suggested identification of the areas in Srinagar which are completely lacking in parks or green spaces, and earmark the areas in each locality of the city which can be developed into a park or green space.
It had also suggested to detect encroachments over parks and green spaces and sought their removal. It also called for avoiding permissions for conversion of land use i.e., from conservation zones reserved for parks or green spaces or urban forests to residential or commercial use and ensure adequate and proper regular maintenance of parks and green spaces in Srinagar.
The respondent authorities claimed that they have successfully completed the Tulip Show 2022 with the concerted efforts of various wings of administration. The Tulip garden has earned a prestigious spot in the World Book of Records (London) .This has been a monumental recognition of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir hailing the Tulip garden as Asia’s largest tulip paradise, adorned with 1.5 million tulip bulbs, read the official response .
It said that out of the four Mughal Gardens — Nishat, Shalimar, Cheshmashahi, Pari Mahal — have been placed in tentative list of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites, a pilot project has been undertaken by the Department of Floriculture and JSWF (a public charitable trust) wherein a Memorandum of Understanding has been signed on 28/07/2021 for a collaborative partnership for the conservation and maintenance work at the select sites of Shalimar Bagh and Nishat Bagh.
The Director Floriculture Jammu in his compliance said that the department is presently maintaining 64 parks and gardens in the division having area of 1898.74 Kanals.
Single use plastic and other plastic material is strictly prohibited in all the existing parks and gardens maintained by the department in Srinagar. It also said that all the existing parks and gardens maintained by the department have been provided with grill fencing and that there is no encroachment in any of the parks or gardens.
