Chandigarh: Vacate Colony No. 4 in 2 months, dwellers told

Chandigarh, February 15

The UT Administration has given two months to residents of Colony No. 4 to vacate it. “This colony is illegal and will be demolished within two months. It is hereby ordered to vacate it,” read a notice pasted on the wall of a house in the colony.

To make the city slum-free, the UT Administration had decided to get the dwellers evicted from the last slum of the city, Colony No. 4, after the winter season. Slum dwellers, who were found eligible after the biometric survey conducted some time ago, have been rehabilitated under the Affordable Rental Housing Scheme of the Centre. However, all those who have failed to meet the eligibility criteria have been asked to leave.

The Administration has already allotted flats at Maloya to a majority of the slum dwellers of the colony. The colony is the second biggest after Colony No. 5, which was razed in 2013. There were over 7,000 dwelling units in Colony No. 5 while Colony No. 4 has around 5,000.

In the past 10 years, the Administration has constructed around 25,000 flats in different sectors of the city for the rehabilitation of slum dwellers. The rehabilitation scheme was launched to make the city slum-free.

Sources said eligible residents of the colony had been allotted flats under the Chandigarh Small Flats Scheme-2006 in the rehabilitation colony at Maloya. In a survey conducted in 2006, only 2,400 families from the colony were found eligible for rehabilitation.

Later, the Administration had decided to conduct a fresh biometric survey of slum dwellers who were found ineligible or were left out during the 2006 survey.

In keeping with the Administration’s plan of making Chandigarh free of slums, the CHB had last year rehabilitated slum dwellers from tin-shed colonies in Sector 52 and Sector 56. The Estate Office has managed to get around 200 acres from encroachers after razing Colony No. 5, Mazdoor Colony, Kuldeep Colony, Pandit Colony, Nehru Colony, Ambedkar Colony, Kajheri Colony and Madrasi Colony. —