TNSCB sets a target of rehabilitating15 lakh urban slum families by 2023

C Shivakumar

Chennai:

Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board has set a target of rehabilitating 15 lakh families living in urban slums before 2023, according to TNSCB sources.

 Sources in the slum clearance board said that in the next five years the board plans to construct 1.57 lakh tenements under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), XIII Finance Commission, Emergency Tsunami Reconstruction Project (ETRP), Rajiv Gandhi Rehabilitation Package (RGRP) and Rajiv Awas Yojana.

Of this, TNSCB completed the construction of 23990 tenements under this programme so far. The work of construction of 34692 tenements will be completed before March 2015.

Sources said that under JNNURM, the plan is to construct 44,870 tenements by March 2015 while under the XIII Finance commission a total of 5,243 tenements will be added by March 2015.

It is also believed that a total of one lakh tenements will be constructed by 2017 under the Rajiv Awas Yojana besides making 10 cities as slum free cities. “The District Collectors have been requested to alienate more than 2,500 acres of lands for resettlement,” a TNSCB source said.

Currently, under RAY, the government is planning to build 1,500 tenements worth Rs 116 crore in Athipattu in Chennai in the first phase besides 305 tenements in Trichy-Karikalan Colony.

Sources said the government would also send project proposals to XIV Finance Commission for funding assistance during 2015-20 to construct 10000 tenements for the slum families in the urban areas of Tamil Nadu.

While the range of estimates for slum population in urban areas in Tamil Nadu varies between 59 lakh to 86 lakh in 2011, housing shortage is estimated in the range of 26-28 lakh. Interestingly, Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board has not declared any new slums in Chennai since last 26 years and baseline data of Tamil Nadu on urban poverty and slums is inadequate.