Jan. 16: A Surat-based architectural firm, Aakar Architect, Planner, Interior and Landscape Designer, has been selected to draw up the city’s first slum policy.

A source said the decision was finalised after it was found that the rate quoted by it was the lowest. There were two other firms in the race which submitted expressions of interest.

The Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) will now move Dispur for funds to prepare the slum policy. “Once we get the sanction, we will then issue the work order to the firm to start work,” the source said, adding that the corporation wants the project to be over in three months.

The firm is executing eight urban development projects in different areas of the state under the Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for small and medium towns project.

The mission of the firm is to provide context-sensitive solutions to complex urban planning, urban design, architectural issues through targeted research in planning and design, and implementation in a timely and cost-effective manner.

The firm will first have to identify slums in the city under the guidelines of basic services to the urban poor mission.

The second will be to check the number of households in the slums and then make a database of each and every household. The policy will then have to be approved by the government before it becomes operational.

The source said the last survey of slums was done in 2005 and it needs to be updated for the implementation of the upcoming project on slums, which is being appraised by Hudco.

The old figure of 26 slum pockets in the GMC area, covering 1.6 lakh people, has become outdated, as there is a feeling that the number has increased.

“The survey will have to be a scientific one as a comprehensive slum policy will have to be formulated,” the source added.

The Centre has defined slum areas as those areas where buildings are unfit for human habitation (Slum Area Act, 1956). Physically, slums consist of clusters of hutment comprising several rooms constructed with building materials where each room is inhabited by a family sharing a common latrine without arrangement for water supply, drains, disposal of solid waste and garbage within the slum boundaries.

The slum policy for the GMC has become a necessity to provide basic services to the urban poor. The state government has committed to make Guwahati a city without slums through rehabilitation of the existing slums and prevent further encroachment through enforcement and provide basic services to the urban poor and upgrade the living standards.