Noting that rapid urbanisation has led to the problem of growing slums in cities, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said that the Centre plans to construct over 15 lakh houses for the urban poor.

Inaugurating a Rs 2,400-crore housing project for slum dwellers on the outskirts of the city, Singh said that he expects Chandigarh to become the first slum-free city in the country.

“I believe such important projects will give a new dimension to the country in its journey of becoming a developed nation,” he said.

Rapid increase in urban population would put immense pressure on urban infrastructure in the next couple of years, the Prime Minister said, adding that the urban population in the country is going to increase by 22 crore in the next 20 years.

“The pace of urbanisation in India is going very fast. In 1971, the urban population was 11 crore. In the last 40 years till the year 2011, the strength in urban population went up by 27 crore. It is estimated that its strength will go up by 22 crore in the next 20 years,” Singh said.

Increase in urban population will put immense pressure on the country’s urban infrastructure. “Our growing slums in cities present a picture of the kind of problems that arise because of urbanisation,” he noted.

He said that the strength of people living in slums is estimated to grow from 10 crore to 10.4 crore by 2017.

The Prime Minister said about Rs 41,000 crore is expected to be invested for setting up 15.6 lakh houses under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme.

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