Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) has made it mandatory for residents to start farming within the premises of their house. It has been done to encourage urban farming. As per a notification released recently, the civic body has asked people to grow fruits and vegetables around the open spaces in their homes to beat the acute shortage of supply during emergency situations like the current lockdown.
The notification added that all future applications for buildings in the city need to include this plan for vegetable farming. Reportedly, Srinagar residents often face such problems of vegetable and fruit shortage due to prolonged strikes and curfews. Besides, they also face such situations when the Srinagar-Jammu highway, which is the only all-weather road that links the valley to the rest of the country, closes due to landslides and snowfall.
Joint Municipal Commissioner (planning) Ghulam Hassan Mir expressed that to address such an issue, it will now be mandatory for all families and citizens that have open areas around their homes, to use them for planting fruit trees as well as vegetables. The notice also stated that engineers and architects, responsible for drawing maps and municipal plans, need to submit proposals on behalf of the applicants.
Joint Commissioner of Planning Ghulam Hassan Mir further added that the Corporation would also write to horticulture and agriculture departments to provide seeds and other necessary assistance to households that are within the municipal limits to encourage greenery. Further, the Agriculture Department has also been promoting kitchen garden activities for many years and has been providing high-quality saplings and seeds to the locals.