Raipur slums to be cleaned up

The slums in the Chhattisgarh capital will get a new look as the state government is working on a proposal to construct houses for the slum-dwellers under the Jawaharlal Nehru national urban renewal mission""a scheme floated by the union government.

The department of urban development in the state government is giving final shape to the project under which 27976 houses will be constructed for the slum dwellers in the Chhattisgarh capital with an estimated cost of Rs 392 crore.

The ministry of urban development last month approved the proposal to construct concrete houses for slum dwellers in state capitals and the big cities with population of more than 10 lakh under the Jawaharlal Nehru national urban renewal mission.

The Chhattisgarh capital is one of the cities selected for the implementation of the project. According to sources, Raipur is however the only city of the others selected for the project to get a huge amount of Rs 392 crore in the current fiscal to execute the scheme.

The other cities have been allotted less amount, sources added. The Union government will bear 80 per cent of the project cost while the state government and the beneficiary will share ten per cent each.

Raipur Mayor Sunil Soni told Business Standard that the department had started working on the project and completed the first step of selecting the land.

As many as 53 slums have been selected for the project in the state capital where more than 15 per cent vacant land belongs to the government, Soni said.

Soon after getting fund from the union government, the construction work will start in the state capital that houses 23 per cent populace in the slums and other backward settlements. The new project will provide all the basis amenities to the slum dwellers including power, drainage, drinking water and others.