Orissa HC calls out poor rehabilitation of Nimpur slum in Cuttack

The Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) had set up a rehabilitation and resettlement colony at Nimpur for slum dwellers evicted from three locations in the city, against which, the Orissa high court has expressed serious displeasure. Around a year ago, the CMC built over 1,000 houses in the Nimpur colony on the outskirts of the city. Following a 10-minute video presentation of the situation on the ground in the colony, the HC expressed its displeasure. According to the two-judge bench of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice AK Mohapatra, from what was visible on the video, as a walk through the colony in question, there is still much to be done on most of the parameters of sanitation, drainage, toilet facilities, compound wall construction, and so on. Even the most basic of living standards has yet to be established. After the HC expressed its dissatisfaction with the situation, the CMC said that steps had been taken to improve the situation in the colony and that the process would be completed in three months. The HC said that it would review the colony's situation in a month and set January 17, 2022, as the deadline. The bench added that a senior officer of the CMC will file an affidavit on the colony's nearest educational facility by the next date. The HC had directed the civic body to give it a live demonstration of the colony's current status on November 29. The high court has been hearing a petition filed by Ruja Bibi and four others, alleging a lack of basic amenities in the colony, since April. Image Source