The Hindu              29.05.2013

Elicit views zone-wise on CDP, GVMC told

Staff Reporter

Training programme on RAY and draft AP Slum Dwellers Property Rights Act 2012 held

The proposals made in the draft of the revised City Development Plan (CDP) should be discussed at zone or sub-zone-wise meetings taking people into confidence, member of the Prime Minister’s Monitoring Committee on JNNURM R.V. Rama Rao has said.

Addressing a one-day training programme on Rajiv Awas Yojana and draft AP Slum Dwellers Property Rights Act 2012 organised by the Campaign for Housing and Tenurial Rights (CHATRI), he said the-more-than-Rs.6,000-crore proposals made in the plan should not be taken up without the approval of the public. The CDP finally becomes part of the Master Plan.

Since the plan included urban housing for the poor, at the zone-wise meetings the location of slums and government lands should be made public and within the zone the urban poor should be readjusted instead of relocating them hitting their livelihood, he suggested. He cited the examples in Ahmedabad, Surat and Pune where only readjustment was done avoiding relocation. In the JNNURM too the lands that should be vacated have been prioritised. Also when if a slum was cleared from government land if it was used for commercial purpose those vacated were entitled 20 to 25 per cent of the floor space. Relief and Rehabilitation rules applicable to project should be applicable when slums were relocated, he said.

Prof. Rama Rao said not only housing but other proposals should be discussed so that funds available were spent on useful projects. The government land, rights on which would be transferred to the municipality, should not be used for commercial purposes, he suggested.

While tenurial rights were being given for individual houses, whether the same would be made applicable to apartments was not clear, he said. He suggested that a land bank be formed with the land earmarked to the poor in private layouts and it should be used for housing from time to time.

City convenor of CHATRI Pragada Vasu alleged that 12 slums had been sent to the technical committee on RAY under a pilot project but the views of people on whether they accepted the G+3 pattern were not taken. An urban local body-level committee should be formed with those concerned but it was not done. He demanded that GO Rt No.136 that laid down only construction of apartments give way to the Property Rights Act which should be duly modified, incorporating the RAY guidelines issued by the Central Government.