Chandigarh to become slum-free by March

Dushyant Singh Pundir

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 1

The UT Administration has set a target to make the city slum-free by March this year.

After a delay of several years, the Administration is all set to get the dwellers evicted from the last slum of the city, Colony No. 4, after the winter season.

UT Adviser Dharam Pal said all slum dwellers who were found eligible after the biometric survey conducted in the city some time ago, would be rehabilitated under the Affordable Rental Housing Scheme of the Central Government. However, all those who did not meet the eligibility criteria would be asked to go after the winter chill subsides, he said. Other smaller slum areas in the city would also be cleared by March, he added.

A large number of slum dwellers have been staying in Colony No. 4. The Administration had already allotted flats at Maloya to a majority of the slum dwellers of the colony.

The colony is the second biggest slum after Colony No. 5, which was razed in 2013. There were over 7,000 dwelling units in Colony No. 5 while Colony No. 4 has around 5,000 units. In the past 10 years, the Administration has constructed around 25,000 flats in different sectors of the city for rehabilitating slum dwellers. The rehabilitation scheme was launched to make the city slum-free.

Sources said eligible residents of the colony had been allotted flats under the Chandigarh Small Flats Scheme-2006 in the Rehabilitation Colony, Maloya. In a survey conducted in 2006, only 2,400 families from the colony were found eligible for rehabilitation.

Later, the Administration had decided to conduct a fresh biometric survey of slum dwellers who were found ineligible or were left out during the 2006 survey.

In keeping with the Administration's plan of making Chandigarh free of slums, the CHB had last year rehabilitated slum dwellers from tin-shed colonies in Sector 52 and Sector 56. The Estate Office has managed to get around 200 acres from encroachers after razing Colony No. 5, Mazdoor Colony, Kuldeep Colony, Pandit Colony, Nehru Colony, Ambedkar Colony, Kajheri Colony and Madrasi Colony.