The Hindu : Front Page : Land for slum dwellers’ houses a problem

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Saturday, Oct 11, 2008
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Land for slum dwellers’ houses a problem

K.V. Prasad

Coimbatore Corporation implementing the project at Rs. 258 crore
A detailed project report will examine options for land acquisition, says Mayor

COIMBATORE: The Coimbatore Corporation seems to have done half the tightrope walk in terms of providing houses on alternative sites to people living in slums that encroach water bodies. But, if it exhausts available Government land in the city, acquiring sites for the leftover slums may be a problem as it will not get funds for this purpose from the Central and State Governments.

“We will get Government grants only for constructing houses under the Central Government’s Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission,” says Mayor R. Venkatachalam.

The Corporation is implementing the houses for slum dwellers project at Rs. 258 crore. In the light of Supreme Court directions that no encroachment should be allowed on water bodies, the district administration and the Corporation are faced with the task of removing the slums on three to four tanks and a major canal.

The Corporation appears to have covered substantial ground in getting the government land at Ammankulam to build 3,840 flats in a ground plus three floors apartment for the families that currently encroach the Valankulam. Construction of the multi-storeyed tenements is being done by the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board, as part of the Corporation’s Basis Services for the Urban Poor (BSUP) project under the Central Government’s infrastructure programme, Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.

Mr. Venkatachalam is confident that the city can be rid of slums by improving the living conditions of the urban poor.

The Corporation has got 15 acres at Ammankulam and more than 50 acres at Ukkadam to re-locate people living on water bodies.

The Mayor says a detailed project report that is to be prepared will examine options for land acquisition.

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