The Times of India 14.09.2009
City corporators to go for slum study
BHUBANESWAR: In a bid to study and emulate ideal slum management practices, a 20-member team of delegates, including MLAs, corporators and slum-dwellers are on a week-long trip to major cities across the country. The delegates will be visiting, among other cities, Mumbai, Pune and Ahmedabad.
Housing and urban development minister Badri Narayan Patra said, "Like all urban centres, the fast growing number of slums has been a problem for cities like Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Berhampur. So we have decided to learn and replicate the best practices initiated in public-private-partnership mode in rehabilitation, housing and other services in slums."
According to officials, while the city has 229 slums in 2004, the number has increased to 377, recording a growth rate of 78 per cent. The growing number of slums now has become the headache for the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) as 281 slums about 75 percent are unauthorized and located in the heart of the city. Moreover, two new slums are adding to the capital every month with over 30 percent of the city's population living in these slums and the number is increasing by the day, according to a BMC survey.
"The people staying in slums also have the right to quality life and basic amenities and we cannot just throw them out. But at the same time, we cannot allow growth of slums along the major roads of cities. The state government will initiate development projects and give affordable homes for these people," Patra said.
The minister also said, "As part of our commitment to the High Court, we are rehabilitating the urban poor who were evicted from several parts of the city."
Leader of the delegation and Bhubaneswar Centre MLA Bijay Kumar Mohanty said, "There is no dearth of funds, but we must plan something that will be sustainable and will match to the growth of the cities."
