With the related paperwork still under process, around 400 residential flats at Madhukam for rehabilitation of displaced slum dwellers are still awaiting occupants. Completed earlier this year, these single-family, two-family and multifamily dwellings were constructed under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission’s (JNNURM) Basic Services to the Urban Poor (BSUP) project.
Originally, the flats were meant to house the inhabitants of Islam Nagar and Khadgarha displaced during the anti-encroachment drive in 2011 but they refused to move in due to security concerns following angry protests by Madhukam residents opposing the relocation. Now they are to be provided space in Islam Nagar itself on the Government polytechnic land where they were displaced from in the first place.
“Now, we are planning to relocate people from encroachments in Harijan Basti, Pahari Tola and near the under-construction bus terminus at Khadgarha to the flats in Madhukam. Names of those who are to be moved from these areas are being compiled through surveys. A list of 192 names from Khadgarha has been prepared and sent for approval already,” informed Deputy Mayor Sanjeev Vijaywargia.
So the files are already moving from one table to another. But the trail of paperwork extends beyond simply names. There is the matter of displaced paying ten percent of the building cost. As Urban Development Minister C.P. Singh stated, those being rehabilitated needs to pay 10 per cent of the building cost at the time of agreement to get the ownership of the dwellings allotted to them, government will bear the rest of the expenses.
“Most of the beneficiaries of this initiative belong to the populace living below the poverty line. Even a mere 10 per cent of the building cost is a difficult sum for them to pay in one go. Thus we have requested the government to relax the stipulations so that they can pay their share in installments. The application was submitted a week ago,” said Vijaywargia.
“I have not seen the file yet. I will be able to comment on the matter once I get it and go through the regulations,” said C.P. Singh in reply to the status of the petition and action being taken on it.
But the long list of paperwork awaiting approval does not prevent the authorities from setting deadlines. Singh said, “We intend to complete the due process by August 15 and start relocating the displaced.”