According to the Economic Survey of Delhi 2019-20, about one-third of Delhi lives in substandard housing, which includes 695 slum and JJ (jhuggi-jhopdi) Clusters, 1797 unauthorized colonies, old dilapidated areas and 362 villages.
These areas often lack safe, adequate housing and basic services.
Development Work in Slums
Initiatives by the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB)
- The DUSIB functions under the control of Delhi Government and is primarily functioning under the purview of the DUSIB Act, 2010.
- Due to the commendable efforts of DUSIB, by Mar 2021, all the slums of NDMC, SDMC, and EDMC had been declared ‘Open Defecation Free’.
- It has provided 674 Jan Suvidha Complexes with 21,586 Western seats.
- In 619 of these slums, 10,16,531 meters of concrete pavements and 250 kilometers of drains have been constructed.
“Jahan Jhuggi Wahin Makaan” Scheme
- The Delhi Govt is committed to providing ‘Jahan Jhuggi Wahan Makaan’.
- Under the ‘Jahan Jhuggi, Wahin Makaan’ scheme, poor families and slum dwellers will be provided new affordable flats by the Delhi government. The aim is to provide a hygienic, healthy and dignified lifestyle to the slum dwellers.
- In Sultanpuri, the work of allotting 1,060 houses to the people living in the nearby slum settlements is in the final stage. Apart from this, as of 9th Mar 2021, the construction of 784 multistoried houses for people belonging to the economically weaker section (EWS) has started in Dev Nagar, Karol Bagh.
- On 14th Nov 2020, the Delhi CM announced that 89,400 flats for in-situ rehabilitation of residents will be constructed in a total of 237 acres, with a deadline of 2022-2025.
- The houses will be multi-storeyed, and five separate tenders will be called for each lot of 8,000 houses in the first phase.
- The construction cost for the first phase is ₹3,312 crores for 41,400 flats ( ₹8 lakh per flat).
- Implicit in the promise is not just a material improvement but a legal one: improved houses would come with secure tenure giving residents both protections against forced evictions as well as possible rights to use housing as an economic and developmental asset.
Water Vending Machines in Slums
The Delhi Govt will set up 1000 water ATMs in slums. People will get 24 hours water. This work will be completed by Dec 2022.
Development Work in Unauthorized Colonies
“Being the Capital of India, Delhi has a huge influx of migrants from all over the country in search of employment and better opportunities. In the last 30-40 years, Delhi has been significant in terms of migration of people from other states in large numbers. It has been the responsibility of the DDA to provide affordable housing to the people in Delhi, but unfortunately, the stipulated demand for housing has not been met. This has resulted in the set-up of unauthorized colonies in the city in large numbers. The previous governments did nothing to improve the conditions of these unauthorized colonies and the people had to continue to live in miserable conditions. Residents demanded the development and regularization of unauthorized colonies, but all they could get were false promises. Since the formation of the government in 2015, we have worked extensively for the progress, development, and regularization of unauthorized colonies.” – Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi CM on 27 Nov 2019 (Link)
- The AAP Delhi government has given a lot of importance to the work of constructing roads, sewers, and parks for people residing in the unauthorized colonies and slums of Delhi. The DSIIDC (Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd.) has been entrusted with the work of providing basic infrastructure like roads & storm water drains in unauthorized colonies of Delhi.
- On 19th July 2018, the Delhi government approved and sanctioned the budget for the construction of roads and drains in unauthorized colonies except for those falling in the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) and forest areas.
- Construction work was completed or was in progress in 1345 out of 1797 unauthorized colonies of Delhi as on 10 Mar 2021.
- Several community interactions at a micro and macro stage were held to understand the issues that the slum community faces.
(Source: badliac.pdf (dsiidc.org))
- The budget allocated on the development work for the financial year 2021-22 in these areas is Rs.1,550 crore for the year 2021. The total budget proposed for housing and urban development in 2021 is Rs.5,328. In the budget previous to this, Rs. 3,723 was allocated for this sector.
- Piped water supply to all unauthorized colonies will be ensured in a phased manner in the next two years, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said while presenting budget for 2021.The government has set aside ₹ 3,274 crore for the schemes and projects of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) for the financial year 2021-22. (See Section on Water for more details.)
- There are 1,799 unauthorized colonies in the national capital. Of these, 1,622 now come under DJB’s piped water supply network. During the first term from 2015 to 2019, AAP constructed proper sewage systems and roads in 1281 colonies, and the funds spent were Rs. 4312 crores.
(Source: karawalnagar.pdf (dsiidc.org))
Development Work in Villages
“The Delhi government is taking all necessary steps to ensure water and electricity supply, as well as improving the condition of roads, parks, drains, and multipurpose community centres in villages. This year, the government is spending approximately Rs 200 crore on various village development schemes. The department has been directed to complete the remaining 291 schemes as soon as possible.” – Gopal Rai on 22 Dec 2021 (Link)
The Delhi Village Development Board in Dec 2021 approved an amount of Rs 399 crore for the implementation of 291 schemes in the national capital’s rural areas.
