By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 3 Aug: Government officials have claimed that work to relocate slum residents in Dehradun will soon be resumed. It is actually an old plan which was undertaken by the then BJP Government years ago on the initiative of then Mayor of Dehradun, Vinod Chamoli. As per the plan, under a pilot project, residents living in the slum colonies alongside Rispana were to be shifted to Kathbangla. However, the project was strongly opposed by the Congress and it became a major political issue forcing the then government to put it in cold storage.
Now, years later, the Dehradun Administration has again woken up to this project. It is now being claimed that the work will start once again on the houses being built for the people living in the slums. The district administration has claimed that this project, which was stuck for 13 long years is going to be revived once again. The budget has been released for the repair of Kath Bangla Basti located in Rajpur ward of Dehradun Municipal Corporation. But the initial total cost of the flats under construction was then estimated to be Rs 6.22 crore from which only an amount of Rs 4.25 crore was spent before the project was abandoned. After the revival of this project, now the government has to spend additional budget of Rs 7 crore on repairs.
The work of building flats for the people living on the banks of the Rispana river was started in the year 2011. At that time Rs 6 crore 22 lakhs were sanctioned for this project and the work was given to UP Rajkiya Nirman Nigam. The foundation stone of the project was laid by the then Chief Minister BC Khanduri. There was a plan to build 148 flats under this project. But after spending 80 percent of the money by UP Rajkiya Nirman Nigam, the flats were left in limbo. Later the government changed and the project was unofficially abandoned. However, in the year 2020, the High Court issued an order that all the 100 metres wide area of the river banks be vacated. Of course, the government brought an ordinance staying the order. But, with the pressure of the High Court sustaining and persisting for vacating all the area up to 100 metres wide of Rispana and other rivers, again there is pressure to relocate those living on the river banks.
There were other factors too which affected the original relocation project. Due to the slow pace of construction work and poor quality, UP Rajkiya Nirman Nigam was taken off the project. After 13 years, the Urban Development Department had formed a team of officials of Municipal Corporation, Irrigation Department, MDDA and asked them to submit a joint investigation report on the status of the flats under construction.
The investigation report has revealed that the concrete of the building is deteriorating. The quality of RCC is deteriorating. Now through the Municipal Corporation, the government has got the responsibility of repairing the flats and completing the remaining work through Smart City Limited.
District Magistrate Sonika said that after about 13 years, the government has prepared a plan to once again complete the construction of the half-finished flats in Kath Bangla area and relocate the families living on the banks of the river. Under this phase, 180 families can be relocated. A budget of about Rs 7 crore has been allocated for this. The remaining work and the repairs will now be carried out by the state PWD Department.
