The houses meant for riverfront-displaced were lying vacant or were sold to the encroachers.
Construction of Sabarmati riverfront had rendered homeless those living along the riverbank, but respite came from the civic body, which constructed residential units for them. The housing colonies had come up for the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) of the society. But it has now emerged that about 1,000 of these units have been illegally encroached upon.
The project-affected people, and various organisations and elected representatives, had complained about the irregularities, which prompted AMC to conduct a survey in the matter. And thus, the indiscretions came to the fore.
Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) on Tuesday started a campaign to drive out the unauthorised occupants of these residential units. About 46 units in the east zone were vacated. A case in the matter has also been filed in Gujarat high court.
The survey, conducted in all six zones of the city, has revealed that 700 non-alloted EWS units are occupied by unauthorised people, said an official with the civic body. “Not only this, about 300 people have sold the units alloted to them – thus, violating the rules. These units are now occupied by other people,” added the official.
Interestingly, AMC’s special-purpose vehicle – Sabarmati Riverfront Development Corporation Ltd (SRFDCL) – had initiated the process to identify those displaced by the project to allot them alternative housing in a systematic matter. Everything, however, went haywire later as AMC didn’t have any authentic data about the project-affected people, said sources.
Sources also said that touts might have played a major role in encroachment of the EWS units. A few organisations had promised the houses to slum-dwellers by collecting money from them. The security lapses and the estate department’s failure to keep track of the non-alloted houses might have aided encroachment, said a senior official with the civic body.
But AMC, with its special drive to drive out encroachers, aims to rectify the wrongs. The estate and town development officials have been directed to get rid of illegal occupants and put up a notice to show that the non-alloted houses are in AMC’s possession.
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