GUWAHATI: The number of slums
in the city have increased over the past few years, raising serious
doubts over the plans of the civic authorities to deal with the problem.
A recent survey carried out by the Guwahati Municipal Corporation
(GMC) on slums in the city revealed that in the past three years, the
total number of slums in localities under the jurisdiction of the GMC
has gone up to 217 from about 90.

As per the previous study on
slums and slum dwellers conducted by the GMC in 2009, there were barely
90 slums in Guwahati then. The number of slum dwellers in the city in
2009 was 27,000; in 2012, their population has gone up to 1,39,292.

Significantly, 38 per cent of the slums have been constructed on
private land. This can pose a problem for the civic body while
implementing new schemes for slum dwellers since apartments to be
constructed by the GMC for these people under the Centre’s Rajiv Awas
Yojana (RAY) are not permitted to be constructed on private land.

“Most of the slums have come up on private land according to the latest
survey carried out by the GMC. We will organise a community
participation programme among such people and convince them to vacate
the slums and avail the apartments to be built under RAY,” said
additional commissioner of GMC Mukul Gogoi.

According to the
survey, about 34 per cent of the slums have been built on land belonging
to state government, while 18 per cent and 7 per cent lie on railway
land and public local body land (GMC land) respectively. Two per cent
slums have been erected on defence land and other lands, while the
ownership of remaining one per slum land is yet to be known. Most of the
slums have been found near Dhirenpara area, Inter State Bus Terminal
and Fatasil Ambari.

Gogoi added that many land owners are
earning good amounts of money as rent from slum dwellers, who will be
accommodated in apartments to be built under the RAY scheme.

The GMC has already received Rs 36 lakh from the ministry of housing
and urban poverty alleviation (HUPA) for execution of RAY, a mega scheme
for the homeless.