Residents of slums in the city aired their grievances before the authorities at a hearing held here on Friday.
A majority of the complaints pertained to lack of civic amenities and issues related to housing and sanitation. The objective of the hearing was to ascertain the common problems faced by slum-dwellers and to find out if there were solutions that could be implemented at the local level. In case interventions entailed funds and required the approval of higher authorities, it would be forwarded to the government, according to Deputy Commissioner Abhiram G. Sankar, who chaired the meeting.
The Deputy Commissioner said for locally implementable issues, they will fix a time frame of around 45 days to redress it and it would also enable them to asses the progress ahead of the next meeting to be held in February.
Mangala Gowri, a resident of Bharath Nagar, said the slum-dwellers of her area were denied basic dignity as the area had become a dumping yard for garbage. While houses have been allotted, basic amenities have not been provided, she said.
Shantamma decried that they were forced to live in the houses constructed under JNNURM in 2008 but had been denied water, power and sanitation. There are no schools in the vicinity nor is there transportation facility. Local residents engaged in daily wage works were forced to spend ₹50 to ₹100 per day out of their paltry earnings on transportation alone, she said.
Representatives of the Slum Development Board said there were 33 group units constructed under the JNNURM to rehabilitate slum-dwellers, of which 25 were within the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) limits and eight were outside its jurisdiction and temporary relief measures were being made periodically.
However, the Deputy Commissioner said that certain basic requirements like underground drainage had to be maintained with no compromise on sanitation.
Members of the Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Welfare Association submitted a memorandum highlighting what it termed as “exploitation” of the slum-dwellers. It alleged that the slum board was yet to refund the full amount paid as advance for housing under the Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojana.
“We have not been provided housing under the scheme and our money has not been refunded,” said the members of the association. They also expressed concern over the “harassment and intimidation by anti-social elements” and the alleged failure of the police to take their complaints seriously.
