Willing to plan rehab of slum dwellers: Delhi govt

Slum dwellers have to be rehabilitated before their houses are demolished, and alternate housing has to ideally be within 5 kilometres of the jhuggi.

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Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain speaks to the media.

Delhi Urban Development Minister Satyendar Jain wrote to Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday conveying willingness to formulate a plan to rehabilitate those living in the 48,000 jhuggis along railway tracks, which have to be evacuated as per Supreme Court orders.

Slum dwellers have to be rehabilitated before their houses are demolished, and alternate housing has to ideally be within 5 kilometres of the jhuggi. The Delhi government will have to work in tandem with the Centre as the land near railway tracks comes under the jurisdiction of Northern Railway.

“A detailed plan has to be created to find out where every slum is to be rebuilt. We will cooperate fully with you in formulating these policies, and the Delhi government can make these plans and give it to you if you need it,” Jain wrote.

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He also said that BJP and AAP have both promised slum dwellers permanent homes in the past. Delhi government has already built houses under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission where jhuggi dwellers can be rehabilitated but most of these are in the outskirts of Delhi.

He proposed that those whose jhuggis do not have vacant land around them can be shifted to the existing houses in areas such as Bhorgarh, Bhalaswa, Bawana and Ghogha.

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