Come next month, Chandigarh set to get country’s first slum-free city tag

Chandigarh is all set to become the first slum-free city in the country by next month. The UT Administration has planned to demolish the last slum — Shahpur Colony in Sector 38 (West) — in the first week of October.

After the demolition of this slum, Chandigarh will be declared the first slum-free city of India and development will be carried out according to its original Master Plan prepared by the Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier.

According to officials, notices would be issued to the illegal occupants of Shahpur Colony next week. They will be asked to vacate the land at the earliest. The demolition drive was likely to be carried out after Dassehra on October 2, said the officials. As many as 44 families in the colony have been found to be eligible under the rehabilitation scheme and will get flats, they added.

Spread over nearly 6 acres, the slum, with nearly 500 jhuggis, houses nearly 2,000 people.

The UT Administration has demolished 18 of the 19 slum colonies in the city and reclaimed more than 500 acres worth over Rs 20,000 crore.

To check and report any fresh encroachment on government land, the UT Administration has constituted 12 dedicated teams of field officials, each headed and linked by two junior engineers (JEs) of the Estate Office. The city has been divided into 12 parts and two JEs given the charge of each segment.

On the redevelopment plans for the reclaimed land, officials said the UT Engineering Department would prepare the plans to develop the reclaimed parcel of government land for residential, commercial and institutional projects as per the Chandigarh Master Plan-2031.

On June 19, the UT Administration had carried out an eviction and demolition drive at the Adarsh Colony slum, located between Sector 53 and 54, and reclaimed approximately 12 acres of prime government land.

On May 6, the Administration had removed nearly 2,500 structures at Janta Colony in Sector 25 and reclaimed around 10 acres of government land worth Rs 350 crore. On April 23, nearly 1,000 jhuggis were razed in Sanjay Colony, Industrial Area, Phase I.