There are about 513 slum settlements across the State with a population of about 20 lakh. Stating this, the State Slum Settlement Development Committee chairman and MlA Rajkumar said that the committee has been given the task of preparing its report on the status of such settlements and measures for their regularisation by the State Government.
Having completed four of the five months given to it for submitting its report, the committee will seek additional time to complete the task considering that slums in some mountainous regions are yet to be inspected and that various aspects have to be considered. Addressing the media, Rajkumar said that the State Government is committed to regularisation of slums and provision of ownership rights to the residents.
“After formation of the committee on August 23 last year, I toured slum settlements in Dehradun, Rishikesh, Haridwar, Roorkee, Vikasnagar, Sahaspur, Rudrapur, Ramnagar, Kashipur, Sitarganj and other places,” he said. He assded that at a meet with housing department officials and Mukhya Nagar Adhikaris on February 20 this year, he had directed them to hold detailed talks and draft a roadmap for regularisation of slums and accordance of ownership rights to the residents.
“Most of the slums were set up from 1975 onwards and presently there are about 513 slums in the State,” he said. On being asked whether the decision of the cabinet against eviction of occupants who had settled before November 9, 2000 would be implemented, he said that even those who had settled later would be accommodated.
However, he pointed out that recently chief minister Harish Rawat had directed the police to ensure that no new encroachments are made. As many of the slum residents have refused to be relocated to flats, funds will be provided under the Rajiv Awas Yojana to facilitate grant to them for constructing their own home, said Rajkumar.
Slum dwellers will be assisted to construct their own homes while those who are settled on riverbeds will be relocated, he added. Committee members Neenu Sehgal, Jagdish Dhiman and committee secretary Rajiv Pandey among others were also present on the occasion.