Slumisation of Chandigarh: A bugbear that’s hard to tame
Despite establishment of many rehabilitation colonies, Chandigarh is still struggling to rein in the growing slums; while the administration removes one slum, another crops up somewhere else
Even as UT administration pursues the ambitious goal of a slum-free Chandigarh with a fresh deadline of May-end, past experience shows that in the background of the demolition of a slum in one area, smaller slum clusters erupt elsewhere.
In line with its target, it recently demolished Colony Number 4 and next in line are Janta Colony in Sector 25 and Sanjay Colony in Industrial Area, Phase 1. Officials say, with this only one major slum – Adarsh Colony in Sector 54 – will be left and it will also be cleared soon.
While taking pride in its tag of first-planned city of the country, within decades of its inception, Chandigarh ran into the challenge of slums and the rehabilitation of their residents.
As early as mid-70s, the administration demolished a slum in Sector 26 and resettled its residents in Bapu Dham Colony, Sector 26, one of the first rehabilitation colonies in Chandigarh. Within the next two decades, similar resettlement colonies came up in Ram Darbar and Dadumajra after more slums were brought down.
But administration’s initial attempts at a slum-free Chandigarh didn’t succeed, as more slums came up in different parts of the city over the years.
Two of the major ones, Colony Number 5, which covered more than 100 acres, and Colony Number 4, which stood on 65 acres, mushroomed in 1980s, closely following the demolition of the earlier slums and creation of rehabilitation colonies.
First comprehensive slum-free plan came in 2006
It has been 16 years since the administration came up with its first comprehensive plan to demolish the slums and create alternative housing for displaced the residents in 2006.
“Through the Chandigarh Small Flats Scheme, 2006, 25,728 flats were planned for the rehabilitation of 23,841 families scattered over 18 illegal colonies in the city. The families, comprising over 1 lakh people, were identified through a survey. While the majority had been living in the city for more than 10 years, some were here for even over 20 years,” said a UT official, requesting anonymity.
The ambitious plan involved setting aside 356 acres (nearly 20%) of the 2,811 acres of net vacant land in Chandigarh to build rehabilitation flats. At its inception, the estimated cost of the project was pegged at ₹1,187 crore, with each unit costing the administration around ₹4.7 lakh. In exchange, the rehabilitated families owe the administration monthly rent, often not paying it on time, leading to massive dues.
Yashpal Garg, chief executive officer, Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB), said, “Since 1981, CHB alone has allotted around 35,000 houses to slum dwellers and rehabilitated a total population of around 1,75,000.”
Back-to-back demolitions, still no end to slum problem
After the plan, it took another seven years for the administration to start reclaiming its land from slums.
In November 2013, the largest slum at the time, Colony Number 5, was demolished. It housed more than 50,000 people in around 17,000 shanties.
This was followed by the demolition of Pandit Colony, Mazdoor Colony, Nehru Colony, Kuldeep Colony, Madrasi Colony, Ambedkar Colony, Kabari Colony, Kumhar Colony, LBS Colony, Gursagar Bhattal and Kalyan Colony.
But the slum problem was still far from over. “After the demolition of Colony Number 5, at least 15 slums were still existing in over 70 acres. By the time Colony Number 4 was demolished in May 2022, nearly nine years later, it alone covered 65 acres. This shows how the slums expanded even when the administration was implementing its plan to make Chandigarh slum-free,” said the UT official.
UT adviser Dharam Pal said, “Earlier, all slums were not removed, which we will achieve this time. Also, we will make sure land possession is taken immediately and proper measures are put in place so that no more encroachments take place.”