Faridabad: Month on, repair of flats for Khori oustees yet to begin

Bijendra Ahlawat

Tribune News Service

Faridabad, August 13

It’s been a month since the announcement of a policy to rehabilitate the oustees of the recently demolished Khori village colony, but the local civic body has failed to make any progress on its implementation.

The Municipal Corporation Faridabad (MCF) is yet to release the tender for the repair of about 2,500 EWS flats at Dabua Colony and Bapu Nagar which are lying in poor condition. The oustees had been offered flats at these places against payment.

The demolition drive carried out in compliance with the SC order has resulted in the razing of all constructions in the colony which had come up on forestland.

“Though the then Commissioner Garima Mittal had announced the rehabilitation policy on July 13, a day before the demolition of the 9,500 houses was taken up, nothing has come up on the ground so far,” sources in the district administration say, adding that the process may take more than six months.

“I haven’t got any update regarding the application submitted last month for rehabilitation,” says Pritam Kumar, who had to shift to a rented accommodation in a colony in neighbouring Delhi after he lost his two-room house in the demolition.

“The allotment of flats is a cumbersome process. A majority of the oustees have either taken up rented accommodation in neighbouring colonies or have been staying in tents pitched on the debris,” he said.

Nirmal Gorana of the Majdoor Awas Sangharsh Samiti, a body seeking rehabilitation of the oustees, said oustees should be given housing free of cost. He demanded that a monthly rent of Rs 4,500 be paid till the affected people were rehabilitated.

Ramji Lal, Chief Engineer, MCF, said tender for repairs of the EWS flats would be floated soon so that the work could be completed within four months. “A budget of Rs 18 crore has been earmarked for it,” he said.

The oustees had been offered flats in Dabua Colony and Bapu Nagar against a down payment of Rs 17,000 and monthly instalments of Rs 2,500 till the recovery of total cost (Rs 3.7 lakh). The MC had offered Rs 2,000 per month to the applicants for six months as the flats need repair.