ROURKELA: As part of its plan to make the Steel City free of slums, the administration has de-notified six such areas after carrying out necessary developments and beautification. By November this year, another 54 slums will be de-notified.
The six slums are Kisantola, Tungritola, Garhatola, Mantola, Champatoli and Panposh Basti. While the smallest Mantola is home to around 600 people, the largest is Panposh Basti, Rourkela’s oldest habitation, with a population of 5,500.
Sources in Rourkela Municipal Corporation (RMC) informed that under Jaga Mission, 60 slums located on government land have been included for redevelopment with beautification and provision of basic amenities. Slums on land of Rourkela Steel Plant, South Eastern Railway and Forest department have been left out.
The six de-notified slums are being developed with roads, drains, street lighting, drinking water, community toilets, community spaces apart from beautification. Redevelopment of another 25 slums are underway and work in the remaining 31 would start shortly. While `25-`30 lakh is being spent on redevelopment of a small slum, the estimate for a large slum is `60 lakh excluding drinking water distribution networks.
Significantly, two slums in Fertilizer Township area and seven on the western side of Brahmani river are also getting redeveloped after their inclusion into RMC limits in 2014. RMC Commissioner and chief executive officer of Rourkela Smart City Ltd Dibyajyoti Parida said the aim is to improve the environment of these places and allow the slum-dwellers to live with dignity. Besides providing basic amenities, the RMC has additionally introduced beautification plans and provided sanitation and health services to these places. After de-notification, the remaining areas would no longer be called slums, he added.