Srinagar 17 Sep(KNB): Resident’s of Zainakote’s Ghalibabad Lane 1 area are appealing to the Srinagar administration to notify an open expanse of land measuring several kanals along the Srinagar – Baramulla highway, near Shalteng Chowk, for public use.
The residents said several kanals of land remain vacant since years and is already in their possession owing to uninterrupted use for grazing and local youth playing cricket in the land. “We have been using this land for years for grazing our cows, setting up cooking area for weddings, and children play cricket there everyday,” said a local resident. “Recently our youth had to collect tools and make a cricket pitch themselves. Government should formally notify and procure this land to make it available for public use.”
Residents of Ghalibabad Lane 1 also said they are dependent on for not only livelihood and recreation but also as right to passage to reach the main road along highway, making it important to their daily lives. “Several people pass through this vacant land to reach the main highway as a shortcut from several nearby areas,” said a local resident.
Residents pointed out that this vacant land, about 20 kanals near Masjid Iqbal in Iqbal Colony, is also adjacent to the national highway and poses security risk as unknown elements pass through the land at night and wee hours of morning because there is no fencing from the back side of the plot. During the evenings, the vacant land has become hub of immoral activities and drug addiction. “There is a thick and high wall facing the highway but the back side has lower walls that are easy to climb,” a concerned resident pointed out. “Because there is no lighting, drug addicts and thieves pass through undetected.”
Residents said ownership of the land is doubtful and that the land is virtually in their possession and care since no one has so far stopped them from grazing or playing on it.
The resident added, “So its better to notify it for our use. We will create a gate ourselves. We appeal to Div Com to retrieve this land. We also appeal to sports department for developing it as a joggers park with good lighting, it would also keep drug addicts and thieves away.”(KNB)