The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has asked the CEO of the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) as to how he proposes to use the money given by the Railways over a decade ago to relocate J J Clusters along tracks and asked him to take the work on ‘top priority’.
DUSIB CEO V.K. Jain appeared before the NGT on Wednesday and said the board was committed to implementing the order of the tribunal to relocate the jhuggies, and on October 5, it had held a meeting with the Joint Secretary of the Delhi government in this regard.
He said the board is carrying out a survey in six slum clusters and it is in touch with the railway authorities to relocate the slums, but the land has to be given by land-owning agencies.
To this, the Bench said, “Leave aside your meeting and survey. We have been dealing with this issue for a considerable period of time. We were assured that the resettlement of slums would be done within six months. Nothing has happened till date. We want action to be taken. It is your headache. We do not want waste or litter on tracks, and diseases to spread all around.”
The CEO said the board was undertaking construction of flats under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission and 25,000 flats have already been constructed. The tribunal said, “We do not want your hollow promises. Why don’t you give back the money with interest to the Railways?”
The Bench was upset with the fact that the board had failed to use the Rs. 11.25 crore given by Railways to it in 2003-04 for removal of jhuggies from near its tracks. Of the 4,400 jhuggies, only 240 have been relocated in 13 years. It directed the DUSIB to file a proposal of what it intends to do to clear the jhuggies in the safety zone by utilising the money given by the Railways.
