Gujarat: As rehabilitation gets delayed under PMAY, Sahkarnagar residents protest, give paper houses to Collector

  • | Friday | 16th November, 2018

Residents of Sahkarnagar in Vadodara protest with paper houses and key on Thursday. The residents have alleged that prior to the demolition drive in 2017, they were promised rehabilitation within 18 months of them vacating the houses. “The corporation had razed the slum under its slum free city (smart city) vision and had agreed upon constructing in-situ slum rehabilitation in the area under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna. The residents, whose houses were demolished in 2017, have demanded rehabilitation. In July 2017, the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) had razed 1,428 houses and 75 shops in Sahkarnagar.

Residents of Sahkarnagar in Vadodara protest with paper houses and key on Thursday. The residents, whose houses were demolished in 2017, have demanded rehabilitation. Residents of Sahkarnagar in Vadodara protest with paper houses and key on Thursday. The residents, whose houses were demolished in 2017, have demanded rehabilitation. Residents of Sahkarnagar in Tandalja area of the city, whose houses were demolished in 2017, on Thursday protested against the delay in allotment of houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY) by giving paper houses and keys to the Vadodara district collector. The residents have alleged that prior to the demolition drive in 2017, they were promised rehabilitation within 18 months of them vacating the houses. However, they said, even after 17 months there was no intimation or any word from the administration regarding the same. The residents met the collector Shalini Agarwal and urged her to intervene in the matter. “The corporation had razed the slum under its slum free city (smart city) vision and had agreed upon constructing in-situ slum rehabilitation in the area under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna. All the residents had given an undertaking and vacated their houses to be rehabilitated within 18 months. However even after 17 months, no relief is in sight,” said Ashfaq Malek, from Sahkarnagar Sangharsh Samiti. In July 2017, the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) had razed 1,428 houses and 75 shops in Sahkarnagar. Prior to the demolition, in May 2017, the residents had peacefully vacated their houses. The holders of these properties were promised rehabilitation at the same site which was to be developed on a public-private partnership and a part of the land to be utilised for commercial purposes. The project, however, hit a roadblock after it was learnt that a pond existed on the plot where the houses once stood and according to the High Court’s directives of water bodies’ preservation a citizen had filed a PIL to preserve the land for the waterbody. Razia Sheikh (45), one of the residents of Sahkarnagar, said, “We had agreed to their condition because they had promised that we would get our houses back in 18 months. For the last 17 months, we are being given Rs 2000 as rent. The house that my family of six stays in, costs us Rs 3,500. We have other expenses as well. They wanted the land to build a complex that did not happen either. We want our houses back now.” “There is an ongoing case in the High Court where it is being debated that the land in question had a pond, plain land and hutment, but the exact area for each is unknown. We are doing our best and putting forth facts to establish that the entire plot had dwellings for the last 40 years. But we can only take any kind of action after the court’s decision,” said Vadodara Municipal Commissioner Ajay Bhadoo. For all the latest Ahmedabad News, download Indian Express App

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