Rehabilitation of Musi river oustees begins

Under the rehabilitation programme for the Musi river oustees, around 73 families of Saibaba Huts were given tokens by drawing lots for allotment of flats at Bandlaguda.

B Navya, Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO), Hyderabad, personally allotted the slum-dwellers the tokens for their new housing, at her office in Nampally, on Tuesday.

However, more than 15 families panicked when their names didn't figure in the allotment list. Mukesh Kumar Meena, Dist Collector, Hyderabad, assured that the remaining people would also get housing.

He also gave assurance to the members of ‘Eruka community’, who have been earning livelihood by making and selling baskets for decades at Chaderghat, that they would be protected and would be allowed to continue with their profession at Chaderghat.

It may be recalled, the slum-dwellers were granted a stay by the AP High Court on November 1. The Court had directed the Revenue Department not to evict them from the slums until they were provided with the basic requirements of rehabilitation like shelter, water, electricity and drainage system in their new housing colony.