It is not feasible to demolish slums that have been in existence for decades and have been provided with various infrastructural and other facilities by various Government departments. However, residents of slums erected either on the riverbed or dangerously close to the river’s edge need to be relocated, said the State Slum Settlement Development Committee (SSSDC) chairman and Rajpur Road MlA Rajkumar.
Addressing the media here on Monday, he said that the SSSDC had submitted its first report to Chief Minister Harish Rawat about a fortnight ago and would work on submitting its second report after a seminar on slum settlements slated to be held on September 20. He said, “We are of the view that slums erected on riverbeds and flood prone areas close to the river should be relocated. However, there are some recognised slums which are about three decades old and Government departments have provided roads, power and water supply, Anganwadi centres and other facilities here.
It is not feasible to shift such slums. Our committee recently toured Chennai, Mumbai and Ahmedabad visiting the slums and work done there. Problems in most slum settlements are similar but the geographical factors in Uttarakhand are very different from those in the cities we visited. The Sabarmati river front development project in Ahmedabad is often talked about in Uttarakhand and the State is also working on river front development for Rispana and Bindal rivers on the lines of the Sabarmati project. However, there is considerable shortage of land in Dehradun whereas this was not a problem in Ahmedabad.
The river front development project in Dehradun should be started after homes are constructed for those slated to be relocated as part of the project,” he added.
Rajkumar also stressed on the need for creating a land bank, making dumping of garbage in rivers a cognisable offence and undertaking a public awareness campaign for conservation of rivers.