look news india
A historic and comforting news has emerged for about 17 lakh slum dwellers who have been living under tin roofs, narrow streets and lack of basic facilities for years in the country’s capital Delhi. Under the guidance of the Central Government, Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has launched a massive campaign to implement a huge in-situ rehabilitation (where there are slums, there are houses) scheme to make the capital slum-free and beautiful under the ambitious vision of Delhi Master Plan 2047 (MPD-2047). The most humane and revolutionary aspect of this scheme is that the families living in slums will not be sent to some wilderness away from their existing environment and work, but they will be allotted permanent, safe and fully equipped flats by building modern multi-storey residential towers in the same area.
To take this scheme out of paper and implement it on ground, DDA has started formal work on 15 big mega projects in the initial phase. About 45 JJ clusters (slums) across Delhi have been included under the scope of these 15 projects, which are spread over approximately 135.74 acres of valuable urban land. This first phase scheme will directly transform the lives of more than 1 lakh people from more than 21,229 registered families. DDA has started the official process of appointing Transaction Advisors by issuing Request for Proposal (RFP) to prepare technical and financial feasibility studies of all these 15 projects, so that the projects can be completed in a timely manner without any hindrance.
These new houses built under the in-situ model will be no less than any modern private housing society. According to DDA’s plan, the slums will be removed and 14 to 15 storey RCC towers made of earthquake resistant technology will be erected in their place. Each flat will have 1 bedroom, a large living/multipurpose hall, separate kitchen, balcony and ventilated bathroom-toilet. Along with this, 24-hour electricity and water supply, high speed lifts, fire fighting system, sewage treatment plant (STP), solar energy panels, lush green parks for children to play, community centre, Anganwadi centre, primary school and mohalla clinic/health center will be developed inside the complex in the entire society.
Families living in slums often fear where they will go during construction and how their livelihood will be maintained. This time, DDA has prepared a strong system in collaboration with builders and private developers on the lines of Mumbai’s Dharavi redevelopment model. As soon as the work on the project starts, the concerned construction agency will arrange for the eligible families to have clean transit camps or temporary residential units nearby or they will be given the option of renting. As soon as the concrete multi-storey towers are ready, families will be handed over the concrete keys of their dreams through draw and digital allotment. This will neither affect children’s education nor have any impact on the daily livelihood of local workers, street vendors and domestic helpers.
DDA has already successfully constructed and allotted thousands of pucca flats under in-situ rehabilitation in Kalkaji Extension (Landless Camp) in South Delhi and Jailerwala Bagh in Ashok Vihar in North-West Delhi. On the basis of this confidence, now a roadmap has been prepared to develop 376 clusters spread in large areas like Rohini, Pitampura, Shalimar Bagh, Dilshad Garden, Okhla, Kirti Nagar, Vasant Kunj and Kusumpur Hills in a phased manner. Recently, DDA held a high-level meeting with leading real estate developers and investors of the country and finalized the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model to make this huge social scheme economically viable and sustainable by commercially utilizing a part of the vacant land without putting excessive burden on the government exchequer.