Ten years, just two projects: Where does Delhi's slum rehabilitation policy stand?

Indian Express

a day ago

In 2015, Delhi introduced a rehabilitation policy that prioritised in-situ housing for slum dwellers, with relocation permitted only in 'exceptional circumstances.' However, a recent surge in demolitions has run contrary to the policy's intent, with many residents being shifted to far-flung locations.
Major demolitions that have taken place after the BJP came to power are in Madrasi Camp (340 structures demolished), Bhoomiheen Camp (344 structures demolished), Jailerwala Bagh Camp (300 structures demolished) and Taimoor Nagar (100 structures demolished). Eligible residents of Madrasi Camp have been offered housing in Narela, 50-odd km away.
According to a list compiled by Basti Suraksha Manch, an organisation advocating for housing rights of slum dwellers in Delhi, many more demolitions have been taking place at an accelerated pace in recent months. 'Since coming to power, the BJP government demolished around 30-40 slums. Currently, there are 5-10 settlements under threat of demolition. The government had given a slogan of 'Jahaan Jhuggi Wahin Makaan', but, instead, the poor are being removed from their homes,' said Neelesh Kumar, a social activist and member of the group.
The Indian Express examines the current status of the policy and speaks to experts who propose alternative models for more effective and inclusive housing.
The rehabilitation of slums is governed by the Delhi Slum & Jhuggi Jhopri Rehabilitation and Relocation Policy, 2015, which was approved by the Cabinet in 2016.
It prioritises in-situ rehabilitation — alternate accommodation has to be provided to a slum dweller on the same land or within a radius of 5 km.
But under exceptional circumstances, in-situ rehabilitation need not be undertaken and relocation is considered. Such circumstances include a court order; if the slum encroaches on a street, road, footpath, railway safety zone, or a park; and if the encroached land is required by the land-owning agency for a public project that is urgent.
Not all slums or slum residents qualify for this support. Eligibility requires that the slum must have existed before January 1, 2006, and the specific dwelling unit must have been present before January 1, 2015.
Additionally, the occupant must have received a voter ID between 2012 and 2015 (before January 1), be listed in the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) survey, and possess at least one of 12 accepted ID documents, such as a ration card or electricity bill.
The applicant must also not own a house in Delhi. Any slum that came up after January 1, 2015, is excluded from the scope of this policy.
A slum dweller has to pay a sum ranging between Rs 1.12 lakh to Rs 1.41 lakh to get a house having an area of 25 sq m, as well as Rs 30,000 as maintenance cost for five years.
The policy of in-situ rehabilitation has progressed at an excruciatingly slow pace.
In the decade since the policy has come into existence, only two in-situ slum rehabilitation projects have been completed where slum dwellers have been allotted flats and have started living in them.
One is in Kalkaji, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2022. The Economically Weaker Section (EWS) apartment complex has 3,024 flats out of which 1,896 households of Bhoomiheen Camp have been allotted units already.
The second project, in Northwest Delhi's Ashok Vihar, named Swabhiman Apartments, was also inaugurated by Modi in January. The complex has 1,675 flats, out of which 1,405 flats have been allotted to slum dwellers of three nearby slums: Jailer Wala Bagh, Golden Park Rampura, and a cluster opposite Mata Jai Kaur Public School.
Another project to house residents of Kathputli Colony, which was conceived way back in 2008 and is being built by Raheja Developers, has not yet been completed. It has a capacity of 2,800 flats.
According to DDA officials, its next in-situ slum rehabilitation projects are planned in Shalimar Bagh and Dilshad Garden, as well as newer phases of the Kalkaji project.
The Delhi government, through DUSIB and Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructural Development Corporation, is constructing 52,584 flats on the city's outskirts in Dwarka, Sultanpuri, Bhalswa-Jahangirpuri, Savda Ghevra, Pooth Khurd and Tikri Kalan for rehabilitating slum dwellers.
While construction of 24,524 flats has been completed, construction of 28,060 flats is underway, according to Delhi's Economic Survey 2023-24. Of these, 4,833 flats have been allotted — only 2,153 to slum dwellers, according to DUSIB's Annual Report 2020-21.
A lot of these flats are in a dilapidated state and lie in deserted areas. The Economic Survey also notes that 'the issues and problems for low occupancy are very low eligibility rate qualifying for getting the dwelling unit, non-availability of required peripheral infrastructure facilities, apprehension of allottees of losing livelihood after shifting, etc.'
The DDA refused to respond to multiple queries sent by The Indian Express about future projects and demolition.
Gautam Bhan, an urban researcher, said the heart of the problem is the lack of legal low-income housing. 'In Delhi, you can only get housing which is legal, but will not be affordable, or you will get housing which is affordable, but not legal,' he said.
According to the Delhi Master Plan 2021, a quarter of the houses supplied over the next two decades should be Economically Weaker Section (EWS) or Low Income Group (LIG) units for slums and jhuggi-jhopdi (JJ) dwellers through in-situ rehabilitation.
Past records, however, pointed to a different outcome. A Centre for Policy Research project, 'Cities of Delhi' — directed by Partha Mukophayay and Patrick Heller — found that of the 33,052 houses completed between 2004 and 2013 by DDA, fewer than 10% were designated for the EWS category.
Bhan proposed that a variety of models should be worked out for different slums, depending on their size and location. 'You cannot build your way out of this situation,' he said. Therefore, until there are enough houses, the government should at least not demolish houses that people have built for themselves.
'The second model is that the state should give people some kind of tenure rights to slum dwellers. This can be a lease for 30 years. Once people have an assurance that their houses will not be demolished, they will invest and upgrade their housing. The government doesn't necessarily need to provide houses in these areas, but it should provide the basic provisions of roads, electricity and water,' Bhan said.
One of the key alternatives to costly and disruptive slum rehabilitation projects is retrofitting — a method where existing slum structures are upgraded with basic infrastructure such as water lines, toilets, sewage disposal, and street lighting without displacing residents. A related approach, reblocking, involves rearranging homes within a slum to create more regular layouts that facilitate access roads and public services.
A 2018 policy report prepared by Swetha Balachandran and others for DUSIB underscores the value of these approaches, stating: 'Retrofit and reblocking upgrades build on and extend private infrastructure investments that JJ residents have already made into their homes… They are cheaper than rebuilding or near-site relocations and allow residents to implement upgrades themselves, which fosters ownership and long-term maintenance.'
DUSIB has already provided 20,956 toilet seats, 630 community toilets and 525 community halls in its slums, according to DUSIB's 2022-23 Housing Plan.
Lastly, the government has to make land available for affordable housing. 'Open up land through affordable housing zones (AHZs) so you can create a low-income housing market,' Bhan said.
The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) 2.0 mandates the 'inclusion of AHZs in the Master Plans/Town Planning Schemes,' which Bhan points out has not been done in Delhi yet. 'The best way to go about this is to declare some of the already existing slums as AHZs, along with finding new parcels of land,' he said.
DUSIB's website states that 30 lakh people, equal to 15% of the city's population, live in Delhi's slums. The 'Cities of Delhi' project points out that slums house 34% of the population.
Research by Bhan and others, meanwhile, has found that slums only occupy 0.5% of the land in Delhi. 'You won't even give more than 15% of the city's population 0.5% of the land?' he asked.
Devansh Mittal is a trainee correspondent with The Indian Express. He studied political science at Ashoka University. He can be reached at [e-mail]. ... Read More