Srinagar, August 18: The Environmental Policy Group (EPG) has sought immediate judicial and statutory scrutiny of the proposed ₹104.02-crore Plug-and-Play Industrial Park at Nowgam, questioning whether the project conforms to the approved Srinagar Master Plan–2035 and a specific restriction imposed by the State Administrative Council (SAC) to protect a flood-absorption basin.

Spread over nearly 50 acres, the proposed industrial park envisages industrial plots, roads, warehouses, factory sheds, utilities and worker facilities. EPG has cautioned that intensive construction on low-lying and permeable land could reduce natural flood-storage capacity and disrupt drainage and flood-conveyance patterns across the Pantha Chowk–Nowgam landscape.
“Flood basins are not vacant land. They are natural public infrastructure,” EPG said, stressing that their storage capacity cannot be treated as surplus land for urbanisation.
The group pointed out that the concern is not merely an environmental objection but relates directly to the statutory planning framework. The Master Plan–2035 was approved by the SAC in February 2019, along with recommendations of the committee constituted to examine the draft plan. However, the SAC made a specific modification concerning the Pantha Chowk–Nowgam NH Bypass corridor.
It directed that “no development/construction activity” be permitted along the corridor as it forms part of a flood-absorption basin.
Against this backdrop, EPG said the first question should be whether the proposed industrial park falls within the protected area and, if so, under what legal authority development can be undertaken.
The group argued that the issue cannot be resolved merely by obtaining a drainage or hydrological clearance. The site's land-use status and hydrological function must first be established, followed by a determination of whether the proposed construction is legally and technically permissible.
EPG has called for the project's complete footprint, cadastral boundaries and coordinates to be mapped through a single GIS platform against Master Plan–2035 zoning, the SAC-protected corridor, September 2014 inundation data, flood-basin areas, Nowgam Jheel, the Jhelum floodplain, wetlands and natural drainage channels.
It has also sought an independent hydrological and hydraulic assessment covering historical inundation, existing flood-storage capacity, natural water-flow paths, drainage connections, pre- and post-development runoff and the potential impact of extreme rainfall and climate change.
The guiding principle, EPG said, should be “No Net Loss of Flood Storage.” Any development that reduces flood-storage or flood-conveyance capacity should not be permitted. If development is legally permissible, compensatory storage should be established through hydraulic equivalence rather than merely matching the affected area.
EPG has urged the Government to maintain status quo at the proposed site until its conformity with Master Plan–2035 and the SAC decision is conclusively established. If the site is found to lie within the protected flood-absorption zone, it has recommended shifting the project to a hydrologically safer location.
The group has also called for wider reforms, including statutory floodplain zoning, protection of critical flood-storage areas, mandatory flood-risk assessments for major projects and integrated drainage planning before urban expansion.
It said floodplain, wetland and drainage layers should be incorporated into master plans, zoning regulations, building by-laws and online building-permission systems.
“Development must follow hydrology—not hydrology be engineered to accommodate development,” EPG said, underscoring that wetlands and floodplains are essential public infrastructure, not vacant land awaiting construction.