Jammu, Mar 12: There are 93118 people living in shanty slum colonies in Jammu and Kashmir- Kashmir leading with a population of 86092 followed by Jammu with 7026 living in makeshift houses.
 As per the survey conducted by the Municipal Corporations of Jammu and Srinagar, most of the areas identified have primitive drinking water and sanitary conditions, annulling the claims of government that many projects have been taken up to improve living conditions in neglected areas.
 On the other hand, government has claimed that keeping in view the increasing number of slum dwellers, a new survey has been started under Rajiv Awas Yojna (RAY) to create a databank of house less individuals in urban areas.
 “Development of slum areas is being done under two schemes namely Basic Services to Urban Poor (BSUP) and Integrated Housing And Slum Development Programme (IHSDP)”, official sources revealed .
 As per official data, five projects costing Rs 162.39 crores have been sanctioned under BSUP in two mission cities of Jammu and Srinagar, of which Rs 41.17 crore has been received recording an expenditure of Rs 21.43 crores till January 2012.
 As many as 48 projects, costing Rs 141.40 crore are sanctioned under IHSDP in 35 towns of the state against which Rs 70.10 crore has been received. The total expenditure registered on this account till January 2012 is Rs 37.78 crores , sources said.
 Pertinently, dozens of slums have sprung up in across the state, particularly in Jammu city,  during the past two decades, mostly inhabited by outsiders, who have managed to transform makeshift sheds into permanent dwelling units, encroaching upon the government land under the very nose of the administration.
 As per the definition slum has been identified as, “A compact settlement of at least 20 households with a collection of poorly built tenements, mostly of temporary nature, crowded together usually with inadequate sanitary and drinking water facilities in unhygienic conditions.”

Lastupdate on : Mon, 12 Mar 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Mon, 12 Mar 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Tue, 13 Mar 2012 00:00:00 IST