ROURKELA: Notwithstanding claims of the state government, administrative efforts to make Rourkela Smart City free from slums remain partially successful. It is evident from the fact that a large population of slum- dwellers residing on land owned by Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP), South Eastern Railway (SER) and Forest department, has been left out of the slum transformation and de-notification initiative.
Sources said under Jaga Mission, as many as 86 slums on government land have been taken up for transformation with basic amenities. The move aims at de-listing the slums and providing land rights to the residents.
On November 10, an aerial survey through drones was kicked off to pave way for allowing land rights to slum dwellers. However, 51 slums are left out of the initiative. Till now, Rourkela Municipal Corporation (RMC) has transformed 77 of the 86 slums into model slums and renamed them as Biju Adarsha Colonies. The slums have been re-developed with basic facilities like drains, roads, street lighting, drinking water availability through tap, community toilets, open space development and beautification.
With land rights, the beneficiaries would be eligible for Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban scheme. In contrast, the 51 slums of RSP, SER and Forest department land are still struggling with lack of basic amenities.
As per the 2011 census, the city has around 69,600 households with a total population of 3.20 lakh. As many as 137 slums with 41,000 households constitute over 50 per cent of the population. The left-out slums are large unauthorised habitations located on overlapping SER land from Panposh to Bondamunda and RSP land at Koelnagar, Shaktinagar and Timber Colony. ADM Subhankar Mohapatra could not be contacted for his comments on the issue.