NEW DELHI: While in-situ redevelopment of slums at Kathputli Colony and Kalkaji are yet to be completed, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is planning to undertake rehabilitation of 96 Jhuggi Jhopri (JJ) clusters on similar lines of a public-private partnership (PPP) basis.
The planning on similar projects — Dilshad Garden, Kirti Nagar, Rohini’s sectors 18 and 19, Shalimar Bagh, and Kusumpur Pahadi in Vasant Vihar covering 30 slum clusters — has already begun.
The senior officials of the authority said that the land-owning agency would soon start a detailed survey of 96 slum clusters to check feasibility and also to ascertain the exact number of beneficiaries eligible for a house under the Centre’s Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY).
The tender for the redevelopment of three slums in Dilshad Garden had already been floated, where the survey was completed before the lockdown, added an official, aware of the matter.
“The survey to find out eligible slum dwellers and number of shanties in Dilshad Garden was conducted six months ago. There are about 2, 600 slum dwellers. The survey was conducted at Suraj Park in Rohini sector 18 and another cluster in Rohini’s sector 19. The preparations for redevelopment at four sites have also been done after the assessment of 30 clusters and the detailed project reports (DPRs) of 16 of them are being prepared,” said the official.
Around 20 lakh people stay in 675 slum clusters across the national capital and 499 of them are on land parcels belonging to either the DDA or the Central government.
“In-situ redevelopment is an enormous task, which requires effective planning and management therefore calls for accurate data and information about inhabitants in the slum clusters. So, the DDA is expected to initiate the house-to-house survey in about 96 slum clusters, where the agency wants to replicate a development model like Kathputli colony, to exact the number of residents to be rehabilitated,” said the official.
According to the DDA officials, the survey will also help to understand problems of the slum dwellers and expectation from the government for which the agency is looking for a professional agency to collate comprehensive databases.
Most of the slum clusters, to be surveyed, are located in south and southeast Delhi areas such as Nehru Nagar, Sukhdev Vihar, Lodhi Road, Bhogal, Amar Colony, Mehrauli, Ashram, Prahlad Pur, Badarpur, Anant Ram Dairy, and Sangam Vihar. Out of the 96 slum clusters, 42 are located in and around Okhla Industrial Areas.