Meanwhile,uncertainty hangs over ownership status of houses under rehabilitation schemes
The administration has had a generous policy for rehabilitation.
Even as the UT Administration is in the process of allotting one-room tenements under the rehabilitation scheme at Dhanas,the ownership status of the houses that were allotted under various rehabilitation schemes in the past continues to be undecided. In some cases the lease period for which the allotment was made has ended,but no decision has been taken about the houses.
The administration has had a generous policy for rehabilitation. From the 1970s till now,people have been provided with houses under different rehabilitation schemes.
The rehabilitation schemes started in the 1970s. Since then under different schemes,houses have been allotted across the city. The rent that was paid by the slum dwellers ranged from Rs 50 to Rs 350 per month depending on the year when the houses were allotted. The rent increased after a specific time period. In some areas,the residents are not paying rent as the time period for this has been completed and they continue to reside in these houses which are now worth lakhs of rupees.
Kamlesh,chairperson of the Social Welfare Board and former mayor,had recently written to the UT Adviser demanding that the ownership rights of the houses under the rehabilitation scheme which were allotted since 1975 should also be handed over to the residents. “In some areas like Maloya,Bapu Dham,Ramdarbar and Dadumajra,people have been living in the houses for the past three decades or more. The rent that had to be paid has already been given. Still the house does not belong to them. A decision should be taken by the administration,” she says.
In most of the areas where one-room houses had been allotted,people have already constructed multilevel houses under the nose of the authorities. There are also violations galore in these buildings with even the foundation not being sound enough to take the weight of three storeys. It is also causing additional burden on the infrastructure as the population residing in the areas has increased almost thrice than what these were planned for. Water and sewerage pipelines were not laid to cater to such a population. Also,a large number of houses have further been sold.
Senior BJP leader Harmohan Dhawan says that the administration is insensitive to the needs of the people. “A decision on the issue has been pending for the past several years. Officials keep changing and no one bothers about the demands of the residents,” he adds.
Deputy Mayor Satish Kainth says the residents cannot avail any loans as the houses are not in their name. A decision on the issue should be taken at the earliest.
An official of the administration says that these houses were allotted under different schemes. Recently,notices were sent to the residents of the rehabilitation colonies to clear their pending dues. The demands of the residents will be considered if they make representations.
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