Recognise new slums in city

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Follow us:WhatsappFacebookTwitterTelegram.cls-1{fill:#4d4d4d;}.cls-2{fill:#fff;}Google NewsTransparent Chennai has called for a consensus among stake holders for improved slum clearance policies and urged the authorities to recognise new slums emerging in the city.In a workshop conducted with the Unorganised Workers federation, Nithya V Raman, project director, Transparent Chennai, said that no new slums were recognised by the government since 1985. “In 1971, 1,202 slums were declared after an extensive survey, and in 1985, 17 slums were added to the list,” she said.Nithya attributed this flaw to governance and the existent policies in place. “There are hundreds of informal settlements that the government exercises power over in an ad hoc manner. It is ignoring some and evicting some without any due process,” she said.Priti Narayan, researcher, Transparent Chennai, also pointed out that there was a sense of reluctance to declare new slums even though they take up little land in the city. “All the undeclared slums identified by the Slum Clearance Board in their 2002 survey take up only 1.7 sq km in the central city areas, and a total of 4.8sq km in the Chennai Metropolitan Area, which is just 1.1 per cent of the total expanded Corporation area,” she said. The meeting also provided information obtained through an RTI petition filed on excessive land available under the Urban Land Ceiling Act. It revealed that the government had 10.42 sq km of unused land available to them under the Act throughout Chennai.The meeting also had representatives from the Unorganised Workers Federation speaking on their plight living in slum areas. They called for a consensus among stake holders to evolve improved slum clearance policies by holding discussions with the slum dwellers. They also urged authorities to not adopt methods that would harm the people living in the slum areas.Transparent Chennai is a government accountability project housed at the Centre for Development Finance, Institute for Financial Management and Research, Chennai.first published:January 01, 1970, 05:30 ISTlast updated:January 01, 1970, 05:30 IST
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Transparent Chennai has called for a consensus among stake holders for improved slum clearance policies and urged the authorities to recognise new slums emerging in the city.

In a workshop conducted with the Unorganised Workers federation, Nithya V Raman, project director, Transparent Chennai, said that no new slums were recognised by the government since 1985. “In 1971, 1,202 slums were declared after an extensive survey, and in 1985, 17 slums were added to the list,” she said.

Nithya attributed this flaw to governance and the existent policies in place. “There are hundreds of informal settlements that the government exercises power over in an ad hoc manner. It is ignoring some and evicting some without any due process,” she said.

Priti Narayan, researcher, Transparent Chennai, also pointed out that there was a sense of reluctance to declare new slums even though they take up little land in the city. “All the undeclared slums identified by the Slum Clearance Board in their 2002 survey take up only 1.7 sq km in the central city areas, and a total of 4.8sq km in the Chennai Metropolitan Area, which is just 1.1 per cent of the total expanded Corporation area,” she said. The meeting also provided information obtained through an RTI petition filed on excessive land available under the Urban Land Ceiling Act. It revealed that the government had 10.42 sq km of unused land available to them under the Act throughout Chennai.

The meeting also had representatives from the Unorganised Workers Federation speaking on their plight living in slum areas. They called for a consensus among stake holders to evolve improved slum clearance policies by holding discussions with the slum dwellers. They also urged authorities to not adopt methods that would harm the people living in the slum areas.

Transparent Chennai is a government accountability project housed at the Centre for Development Finance, Institute for Financial Management and Research, Chennai.