The notice about the demolition of the slum was issued before the start of redevelopment project in Cantonment railway station, officials from the Division Railway office, said.
The Ambedkar slum near the Cantonment railway station will be demolished by South Western Railways though alternate land has not been allotted yet. Residents of the slum said that they had been given a two-month notice to vacate the slum.
“The slum near Cantonment railway station will be demolished because of the redevelopment project in the Cantonment railway station,” said the Additional Divisional Railway Manager (ADRM), Kusuma Hariprasad. She said the slum was illegal and that the land on which it stands belongs to the Railways and is needed for the project. “Several notices have been issued to the people in the slum when the redevelopment project was started,”she added.
Karnataka Slum Development Board (KSDB) is responsible for allotting alternative lands for the people in the slum in case of demolition. An assistant engineer, from KSDB said, “Alternative lands will be allotted once the government decides the place of allotment.” The allotment of lands will be decided by the Deputy Commissioner of Slum Development Board, said the assistant engineer.
The notice issued by KSDB mentions that around 250 families live in the slum. The evacuation and relocation of the people in the slum will be discussed with Rizwan Arshad, Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) of the area. According to Karnataka Slum Development Act, the government has to provide better housing plans for the residents in the slum.
Kavitha, one of the residents from the slum said, “It is difficult for us to vacate the slum without having any alternative land and we don’t have any other place to stay except this slum.” The residents also said, “Two months is a very short period to vacate the slum.”
Other residents said, “All the local MLAs, who came forward to help us are not interested in helping us now.” The residents in the slum said that they don’t have anyone to support them. “All our lives will be affected severely if the slum is demolished without any alternate land for us,” said the residents.
Venkat Raman Iyer, a trustee from Swabhimann Trust, a non-profit organization said, “The people in the slum will face a complete financial disaster which may lead to children dropping out of schools.” Venkat mentioned the Ejipura slum quarters which was demolished in 2013 because of the poor quality of construction. Over 1,500 residents were forcefully evicted with a promise of allotting alternate homes. “People in Ejipura slum still didn’t get any alternate lands from the government even after the High Court order in 2014,” he said. Venkat said that if the people in Ambedkar slum didn’t get any alternate land before demolition, their lives will also be affected like the people of Ejipura slum. He added that two months will not be sufficient to vacate the slum.
