NEW DELHI: Nearly 7,500 families belonging to economically weaker section (EWS) category may be allotted flats under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U) early next year as the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is making efforts to complete its three in-situ slum redevelopment projects at Kalkaji, Jailorwala Bagh (Ashok Vihar) and Kathputli Colony by December 2021.
The authority is likely to invite a request for proposal (RFP) for four more projects within two months under which additional 7,100 affordable houses will also be built to rehabilitate slum dwellers. Additionally, the agency is working on six similar projects covering 30 slum clusters in the national capital and the target is to issue tenders for 26,500 EWS residential units by the end of this year.
“For three Jhuggi Jhopi (JJ) clusters at Kalkaji extension, Jailorwala Bagh and Kathputli colony, construction of 7, 500 EWS houses is in progress, which is likely to be completed by December 2021. RFP for four more in-situ slum rehabilitation projects for about 7,100 households is likely to be floated in March. Tenders for more similar rehabilitation projects are to be floated by December so that additional 26, 500 affordable houses under PMAY (U) can be built in the city,” said an official of the DDA.
The planning for redevelopment of slums in Dilshad Garden, Kirti Nagar, Rohini’s sectors 18 and 19, Shalimar Bagh, and Kusumpur Pahadi in Vasant Vihar had already begun. The DDA is the nodal agency for the Central government’s initiative— PMAY (U), which was launched to provide affordable housing units to the urban poor. The land owning agency is exploring possibilities for redevelopment of 376 clusters on public-private partnership (PPP) basis for which a survey of 96 slum clusters is planned.
“All ongoing housing projects of the DDA are likely to be completed in two years. To meet the deadline, a provision of Rs 1,100 crore has been made in this year’s budget, which was approved on Wednesday,” said the official.
With the help of the door-to-door survey of slum colonies to be conducted in three months, the agency will prepare a database of genuine occupants, number of households, and family members to ascertain their eligibility for resettlement. The DDA may rope in a professional agency to undertake the survey, which will also check boundaries of the JJ cluster and draw their rough drafts indicating the demarcations under the supervision of its in-situ rehabilitation branch.
20 lakh live in slums
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.