More than fifty percent of the slum population of Jammu and Kashmir resides in Srinagar district alone, census data reveals.
According to the Census Abstract for Slums released by the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner India, 52 percent of the total slum population of the state is living in Srinagar district.
Just four percent households in the slum areas are actually houseless while the rest of the slums in general are devoid of basic facilities, the data reveals.
UN Habitat characterises a slum by lack of durable housing, insufficient living area, lack of access to clean water, inadequate sanitation and insecure tenure.
Among the 86 statutory towns in Jammu and Kashmir, 40 are reported as ‘slum towns’ in the survey with a population of 6.62 lakh accounting for more than five percent of the state’s total population.
Slum households in the state that need upgradation of housing is 30 percent, while 65 percent live in good housing conditions.
The slums data has been taken into account in the Srinagar Master Plan-2035.
Srinagar city has 77 slums pockets, all of them classified as un-notified slums. The other two slum categories are recognised and identified.
“Besides, there are large number of informal housing clusters spread over the city and its suburb especially along highways which are predominantly inhabited by the service population,” mentions the draft Master Plan.
“Slums constitute less than ten percent of the total population of local area. In the DPR 9Detailed Project Report), around 18,000 households spreading across 77 slum pockets have been identified in Srinagar city only.”
The Master Plan draft suggests developing affordable housing poses significant challenges due to several economic, regulatory and other urban issues.
“While housing shortage is modest in terms of new construction, the problem is more serious in terms of affordability as well as up-gradation of existing housing stock,” it reads.
The Master Plan proposes that not less than 70 percent of the housing demand shall be met through government interventions, private developers and housing co-operatives.