Chandigarh to become first slum-free city of country soon

The UT Administration is all set to declare Chandigarh as the first slum-free city of the country next month, claim officials.

With 17 slum colonies already demolished to reclaim 504 acres of prime land across the city worth over Rs 20,000 crore, the two left-out slums spread over 15 acres will be cleared shortly.

Following the demolition of the two remaining slum colonies, the UT Administration will reclaim a total of 519 acres worth about Rs 21,000 crore, taking into consideration Rs 40-crore per acre as the base price, which Chandigarh had quoted for land to Haryana Government for constructing a new Vidhan Sabha building.

Deputy Commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav, who is also the UT Estate Officer, told The Tribune on Tuesday that Chandigarh was planned to be a slum-free city in its original Master Plan prepared by the Swiss-French architectural designer, painter and urban planner, Le Corbusier, in the early 1950s. However, with the passage of time, the slums mushroomed on prime government land across the city.

“We have already cleared 17 of the total 19 slum colonies that existed in Chandigarh while the process to demolish the remaining two illegal settlements is in the advanced stage of implementation,” said Yadav, while disclosing that the UT Administration has decided to declare Chandigarh slum-free —the first such city in the country — by the end of June.

He said the remaining two slum colonies were Adarsh Colony spread over 10 acres of prime land in Sector 53 and Shahpur Colony at Shahpur village with in the UT limits occupying 5 acres of government land.

A latest survey conducted by the UT Estate Office, as part of the final proceedings to initiate demolition process, has revealed that about 5,000 dwellers were putting up in about 1,000 jhuggis (hutments) at 10 acres in Adarsh Colony. Shahpur Colony houses a population of about 2,000 in around 500 jhuggis spread over 5 acres.

On the redevelopment plans for the reclaimed land, the DC-cum-Estate Officer said the UT Engineering Department will be preparing the plans to develop the reclaimed sites as an expansion of the sector area, in or around which they fall, under different components of residential, commercial, institutional and even religious pockets as per the Chandigarh Master Plan-2031.

“The developed sites will be auctioned by the Estate Office as per the rates to be fixed in accordance with the laid down procedures,” revealed Yadav, while adding that the UT Administration has adopted a zero tolerance approach against illegal squatters/constructions/structures and encroachments on the government land.

Slum-free city on the cards: Kataria

"Chandigarh will soon add another feather to its hat by becoming the first slum-free city of India. We have adopted a zero tolerance policy towards illegal slums. Nobody will be allowed to usurp the government land. The reclaimed land will be developed to cater to the increasing demand for housing, commercial, institutional, religious and other allied purposes," said Gulab Chand Kataria, Punjab Governor-cum-Chandigarh Administrator

Political patronage

The slums were allowed to come up over government land under political patronage. The leaders of certain political parties exerted their influence over the UT Administration not to act against such encroachments for building their vote banks. However, this practice was not allowed since 2014 when the local officials started gathering courage to act against the illegal settlements.

Biggest settlement cleared in 2014

The biggest of all the 19 slum colonies — Kalyan Colony — spread over 89 acres and seven other slums in Chandigarh, with a cumulative encroached area of 302 acres, were cleared in 2014. Three illegal colonies spread over 16 acres were razed in 2025.