Direct DDA to redevelop Kathputli colony: AAP to Venkaiah Naidu

Dialogue and Development Commission of Delhi, Vice Chairman Ashish Khaitan on Friday sought Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu intervention in rehabilitation and development of Kathputli slum colony in Delhi.

According to a PTI report, Khaitan asked Naidu to issue directions to Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to rehabilitate the Kathputli colony JJ basti as per the policy and the protocol notified by DUSIB, being the nodal agency.

He also highlighted the “plight” of the people living in the colony and sought time to meet Naidu to sort out the issue.

The report said, in 2009, DDA had signed an agreement with a private developer for “in situ slum development” of the colony spread over 5.2 hectares of land.

The project proposes to resettle the resident families in 2,800 multi-story flats and the remaining land would be given for commercial purposes.

“Since the slum was under rehabilitation, at least on paper, even steps for in-situ improvement have not been taken. As a result, the living conditions in the basti have gone from bad to worse. Hundreds of families comprising infants, elderly people and women, are living in conditions which are not fit for human habitation,” the AAP leader said in the letter.