Srinagar, Oct 10: The much-anticipated work on the historic Polo-view Street into a walkway dubbed ‘High Street’ under the Srinagar Smart City Project is expected to be completed by November end of this year, officials said on Monday.
Iftikhar Ahmad Kakroo, Chief Engineer Srinagar Smart City, told Rising Kashmir that the revamp is taking place under the Srinagar Smart City Project programme under the title of ‘Redevelopment of Polo View Road,’ under which the area will be designed as a ‘High Street.’
“The area will witness a complete revamp from Façade improvement to installation of sitting furniture, availability of Wi-Fi, illumination, pedestrian area fitted with granite and ‘Diveri Stones’. There will be no open wires in the market as the underground cabling has been done”, CE SSCL said.
He said that the work on the project is going in full swing and that they expect the project’s completion by the November end this year.
Earlier in February this year, Lieutenant Governor Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha laid the foundation stone of the Polo View Market Development & Upgradation Project under the Srinagar Smart City.
As per the officials, the project involves Pedestrianisation, Utility Undergrounding, development of public amenities, aesthetic improvement, etc.
This market has come up by default in 1954, after a fire broke in a shopping area situated on the bund near Lambert lane, razing scores of shops to ashes. The then Prime Minister of Kashmir out of compassion allotted the western end of the polo ground to these shopkeepers for rehabilitation.
The area used to have a Sumo stand located at the south end of the street on more than 2 Kanals of land behind the market, on the Polo ground side, which has now been converted into a motorable road for the convenience of the commuters.
Around two years back the area had 35 shops on the Polo Ground side of which a few had split into two’s, however, the area has 20 more shops on the side opposite. The top floors have been converted into office spaces for tour and travel operators, personal chambers, or extensions of the shops.
Notably, shopkeepers in the area have stated that footfall in the market is experiencing a mild lull due to the ongoing project work to redesign the famous Polo View Market into a ‘High Street.’
