Chandigarh admn to raze Colony No. 4 within two months

Directing the residents of Colony No. 4, located in the Industrial Area, Phase 1, to vacate the land, the Chandigarh administration has decided to demolish the illegal colony within two months.

On Tuesday, the UT estate office erected eviction notices at the colony and a nearby hutment cluster, Sanjay Colony, stating: “This colony is illegal and will be demolished within two months. So, it is hereby ordered to vacate the same.”

Inhabited by around 10,000 migrants, Colony No. 4 is the biggest slum in Chandigarh, located near the city’s industrial hub. The administration has been making repeated attempts to get the land vacated for more than three years.

In 2019, too, the administration had served eviction notices, giving the residents 21 days to vacate their shanties, but the demolition drive couldn’t be completed for several reasons, including the Covid-19 outbreak in 2020 and municipal elections in 2021.

Also, the Punjab and Haryana high court in January this year directed government agencies to refrain from executing eviction and demolition orders in the wake of surge in Covid-19 cases. The HC directions are to remain in force till February 28.

Rehabilitation status

Of around 7,000 families inhabiting Colony No. 4, 4,000 have already been allotted houses at the Rehabilitation Colony in Maloya under the Chandigarh Small Flats Scheme 2006.

“The process of resettlement of the eligible residents under the Slum Rehabilitation Scheme has been completed. Now, we have decided to give two months to the remaining residents to vacate the land,” said a senior UT official, who didn’t wish to be named.

Opposing the move, Aam Aadmi Party secretary Rajinder Yadav, who resides in Colony No. 4, said: “Many eligible residents are still left, but the administration has failed to allot them houses as promised. We will fight this illegal notice.”

However, the official cited above said that most of the slum dwellers who were found eligible after the biometric survey conducted in 2006 have been rehabilitated. “The eligible slum dwellers who are still left because of documentation issues will be adjusted under the Affordable Rental Housing Scheme of the Central Government,” he said.

Slum-free city plan

The UT administration had set March 2017 as the deadline to make Chandigarh a slum-free city. The previous biggest slum — Colony No. 5 in Sector 50 — was razed in 2013. It had 7,035 houses.

Mazdoor Colony, Kuldeep Colony, Pandit Colony, Nehru Colony, Ambedkar Colony, Kajheri Colony and Madrasi Colony have also been razed in the recent years, but several small and big pockets still remain.

Last year, UT adviser Dharam Pal had set a new target to make the city slum-free by the end of 2022. The administration has constructed more than 25,000 flats to rehabilitate the affected slum dwellers. Most recently, the Chandigarh Housing Board rehabilitated residents of tin-shed colonies in Sectors 52 and 56 in new flats last year.

Repeated attempts made to contact deputy commissioner-cum-estate officer Vinay Pratap Singh for a comment on the latest eviction notices proved futile.