JOIN USShopping malls dot Kashmir landscape
When Abdul Satar, 70, of north Kashmir frontier district of Kupwara recently visited Srinagar city to meet his old friend at famous Samad Joo’s shop here, he almost lost his way up to it in the confusion of newly- constructed shopping malls which coalesce nowhere.
He could not make it to his friend’s shop for an hour and had to ask several people for its location. Somewhere he was ushered through a narrow lane which leads to the famous Bund of the River Jhelum. Later Satar told Maqbool: “What has happened to your locality. It does not look that good old shop.”
Maqbool, then, explained to Sattar that the big buildings are called shopping malls and there was no place for the wooden shops anymore like Samad Joo’s.
The enclosed shopping malls have become ubiquitous feature of Kashmir landscape over the past few years. With retail chains becoming less prominent or disappearing altogether in the Valley, several job opportunities at these shopping malls are opening.
“I had never imagined that such huge buildings would come up here. I am astonished to see these building blocks and unfortunately they come in the way of enjoying a beautiful view of the River Jhelum, which was the ultimate site to watch from here,” Satar tells Deccan Herald.
He says Srinagar city has changed altogether in appearance and values. “There are many things going on these days. Huge buildings have come up and hundreds of girls are working in these buildings as salespersons.”
The shopping malls have come up in the heart of the city and also on the outskirts of Srinagar. The malls are built on the patterns of a supermarket and the customer get the experience of total shopping under one roof. Interestingly, the shopping malls have provided offices to reputed newspapers and big corporations.
“Two decades ago, there was no shopping mall on the Residency Road. The malls have came up in the last 10 years, catering to the growing market demand in the Valley,” says a shopper in MS Shopping Mall on posh Residency Road in city centre.
He believes the trend is picking speed with several new malls being built in and around the city. “The malls are also being built on the outskirts of the cities like Soura, Rawalpora and Hyderpora. People have started realising the potential of entrepreneurship and other business ventures and for that a shopping mall is a must,” he says.
Observers say the shopping mall trend has been imitated from major cities of the country and elsewhere by the business community of Jammu and Kashmir.
“Actually the trend of shopping mall has been imitated from major cities by the people who have business ventures outside the state. Owning a shopping mall has big gains. It is an investment and the turn out depends upon the contemporary market demands,” says valley-based businessman Ashfaq Ahmad.
Ashfaq has business in Mumbai and New Delhi and he believes shopping malls yield good returns for everyone. “A shopping mall offers employment to hundreds of people and, in fact, it has proved very much helpful for them to earn their livelihood,” he adds.
However, there is other opinion as well. A chunk of people in the Valley agrees to what Ashfaq says but believe that malls are devouring the agricultural land on the city outskirts.
“As far as providing employment is concerned, malls in the city have contributed in a big way. But a new challenge has emerged-- that is the construction of malls in the agricultural land,” says Baseer Ahmad, a retired teacher.
“People are breaking laws by constructing malls on the agricultural land but it must be stopped or else we will have no land left to cultivate,” he adds.
The mushrooming growth of shopping malls has also created trouble for smooth flow of traffic as most of them lack parking areas. “In violation of Srinagar Master Plan, residential areas of the city are seeing alarming growth of shopping malls. These high rise complexes have no parking space. As a result, roads and lanes have become their free parking places, leading to reduction in road space for mobility and traffic congestions,” said Mohammad Ashraf, a senior official.
He advocated that no new malls be permitted in violation of master plan and the existing ones be put on notice to create parking spaces or face closure. “The Srinagar Municipal Corporation has failed to clear encroachments and should be given a free hand to commercial plazas’ owners to violate rules and regulations, adding to the traffic chaos,” he added.