Will this slum ever see better days?

Will this slum ever see better days?
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: Just imagine living in a house with dimension 4x6 and 10x6. Incredible, isn’t it?

But it’s a reality for the slum dwellers in Khader Sharief garden, near Lal Bagh Road. They reside in the houses with a dimension not more than 4x6.

Result: most of the household chores like cooking, washing are done outside the house making the surroundings more unhygienic.

The water let out after doing these chores gets accumulated thus making it a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

Also, if the family consists of more than four members then at least two will be forced to sleep outside the house.

To make the life more miserable, the lanes here are not more than 2.5 feet, where even two wheelers find it difficult to move.

Therefore, it is difficult for more than one person to pass this lane and also it makes it impossible to carry dead bodies in the lane.

Monsoon adds to their troubles, as the rain water easily gushes into these houses.

Needless to say about the poor sanitary conditions. The dustbins are always full, as there is none to clear them regularly.

Nearly 4,000 people reside here always fighting for term to use any of the 12 toilets provided for men and women respectively.

President of Ambedkar House Building Co-operative Society, Angamuthu, said, ‘‘In 1978, former Chief Minister Devraj Urs promised us new houses. Unfortunately, nothing has been done so far”.

“Recently, the government has issued possession certificate to the slum dwellers. We do not want any possession certificate, all we want is a better house to stay in.’’

Angamuthu admits there is trouble in building houses in this locality. ‘‘The land is owned by a private owner, Khader Sharief.

He is ready to give the land away, for a compensation from the government’’. But, the government is yet to negotiate with Sharief.

A litigation is also pending in the court. If the government does not want to construct the houses, it can allow us to construct.

The administration can collect money from us for infrastructure maintenance,’’ he said.

Corporator (Ward 48), T V Prabhu said the houses can be built only after crossing legal bottlenecks.

‘‘Unless all the necessary documents are issued by the government we cannot construct any house in the locality”.

“Also, the government will have to talk to the land owner regarding the compensation”.

“Only then, we can go ahead with the construction of houses. I am taking care of sanitary needs of the area, though only 50 per cent is done.’’

Can these poor people hope to stay in better houses amid healthy surroundings?