Chennai needs only 2.43pc to 3.20pc of land area to provide insitu housing to all slum dwellers

C Shivakumar

Chennai:

Chennai needs only 2.43 per cent to 3.20 per cent of the city’s land area to provide housing for all the slum dwellers but policy makers are still looking at clearance and relocation of slums to far off places which is costing the state exchequer 10 times, according to social activists.

At an event which was attended by Tamil Nadu Speaker Se Ku Tamizharasan, social activists felt that 13 years have passed since slum dwellers in Chennai were relocated to tenements in Kannagi Nagar and Semmenchery without basic amenities but policy makers have failed to take a cue from past follies and are still pursuing the failed model of relocating slums.

Interestingly, Tamizharasan also echoed the stance on relocation of slums and highlighted how he was instrumental in getting assurance from the government to stop such relocation. He said that while the slums are transformed into multi-storied buildings, the plight of people living in the slums has not changed.

Director of Thozhamai A Devaneyan and independent researcher Vanessa Peter stated that relocation is not a feasible option both socially and economically. “The government should focus on upgradation of slums in the same area as it would make a significant difference in the quality of life of the urban poor.

Quoting India Urban Poverty report by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (MoHUPA), they stated that if providing even a small amount of land is a difficulty and resettlement sites are constructed on the fringes of the city then land usage patterns in cities needs to be examined.

Interestingly, this also comes in the wake of Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board setting a target of rehabilitating 15 lakh families living in urban slums in the state. 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.

Devaneyan says the government is till pursuing the policy to relocate the slum dwellers without taking any lesson from the past follies.  Isaiarasu, a social activist said that it took 13 years for the government to decide on providing funds for a hospital in Kannagi Nagar highlighting the failure to provide basic amenities to the downtrodden people.

“The biggest issue is migration. No study has been conducted on what causes migration from rural to urban areas and how it can be controlled. People migrate for livelihood and settle in slums,” he says.

Geetha, president of Unorganized Workers Union, says that the slums are integral part of the city. She also highlighted the plight of slum dwellers who were denied pata to the new tenements. “they are denied pattas so that they can later be relocated to somewhere else,” she alleged.

Key demands:

1.  Priority should be given for in-situ development of slum and where in insitu development not possible land should be allotted within 3-5 km radius from existing habitation
2.  White paper on existing land utilization patter with emphasis on ratio of land provided for economically weaker sections
3.  Introduce reservation of land for the SC/ST populations living in city
4.  Land mapping process under Rajiv Awas Yojana not carried out in any of the cities and hence robus land mapping process should be carried out
5.  The existin tenements (wherein people are not provided with sale deeds), 100 per cent subsidized houses to be provided especially for the SC/ST populations making use of sub component plan and tenurial rights.
6.  The size of housing provided by the state should be increased to 600 to 700 square feet to also accommodate extended families.