Dhawan,several others court arrest

The protesters courted arrest when they walked towars the barricades put on the road where police personnel were present with riot control vehicles. They were later loaded into buses and taken away.

The Ekta Samiti essentially comprises of residents of Colony Number 5. It is the slum-dwellers from this colony who are to be shifted to the tenements in Dhanas where 8,448 one-room tenements have been constructed.

Meanwhile,Harmohan Dhawan said,“The hutments these people reside in have scope for them to occupy more space. In the one-room tenements,this is not the case. These people should be given two-room flats. Apart from giving assurances,the Administration is not doing much.”

Another demand is that the ownership rights be given to them. Presently,the condition is that rent has to be paid for a period of 20 years. While for the first five years it has been fixed at Rs 800,there will be a 20 per cent increase every five years.

As per the affidavit being taken from the slum-dwellers,they would have to return the house to the Chandigarh Housing Board after five years.

Though the Administration has made announcements that ownership rights would be given to the people,the slum-dwellers claim the order for the same should be formally passed.