Babulal Patel, a casual labourer, paid several times more than his actual share (Rs 2,500) to the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) for upgrading his mud house at Khodiyarnagar under the Slum Networking Programme (SNP). The AMC collected Rs 500 for toilets, Rs 3,500 for sewerage, Rs 2,500 for pavements and streetlights and so on. Patel ended up paying Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000. But after applying under SNP for two years, his house was demolished. He was resettled in Piplag on a temporary basis where once again the AMC applied clauses of SNP and demanded various amounts for different amenities. Now, Babulal will soon be shifted to a JNNURM house where Rs 35,000 would be charged from him.

Like Babulal, there are 1,478 families sharing the same plight who were shifted from Kankaria-Machchipir and Khodiyarnagar-Behrampura belts following the Kankaria Lake Front Development and Sabarmati River Front Development projects. The same families under SNP paid nearly Rs 8 to 10 lakh to the AMC, but were resettled in Piplag. On an average, slum dwellers pay a lakh per annum in the reshuffling exercise of the government.

SNP, a centrally funded housing scheme, functions with the participation of local government, NGOs, private parties and community members (slum dwellers). Under the scheme, upgradation of one house costs Rs 15,800 of which a slum dweller pays only Rs 2,000. The upgradation of roads, electricity, water, sanitation, and sewerage is borne by the AMC. But the Corporation collected varying amounts for these amenities.

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