Report No. 138

2.6. The Madras example.-

As regards Madras, we have a helpful description of slum clearance improvement in that city in one of the studies,1 which illustrates the trend towards slum improvement. The magnitude of the slum problem in Madras can be seen from the fact, that while slums cover six per cent. of the total area in the city, they contain more than 30 per cent. of the population. As of 1980, more than a million people in this city lived in 1500 squatter settlements. To improve this situation, the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board was formed in 1971 and slum clearance was followed by slum improvement programme which has been in progress from 1972.

1. Paper on Urban Poverty in India: Policies and Programmes, by the Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology, Ahmedabad published in National Commission on Urbanisation Report (August 1988), Vol. V, Part II, pp. 55 to 59.