Bhubaneswar, Dec. 5: The state government will enact a legislation to grant property rights to slum dwellers and prevent growth of new slums in urban areas across the state.

“A bill has been prepared and will be introduced in the House soon,” housing and urban development minister Raghunath Mohanty told the Assembly today.

The legislation will be implemented in all 107 urban local bodies across the state, he said.

In September, the draft bill titled “Odisha Property Rights to Slum Dwellers and Prevention of New Slums Bill” was approved by the state cabinet.

According to proposals in the draft bill, dwelling space will be made available to slum dwellers at an affordable cost. However, growth of new slums will be prohibited and there will be stringent penal provisions.

An Urban Area Slum Development and Rehabilitation Committee, headed by the chief minister, will identify the slums.

The committee will decide the cut-off date for slum dwellers to be eligible for dwelling spaces. It will also determine the amount to be paid by the slum dweller.

The slums will be classified into two categories — tenable and untenable. In the tenable category, the slum dwellers will be conferred property rights in the existing area.

However, in case of untenable slums (those not fit for habitation or the land reserved for development projects), the slum dwellers will be rehabilitated at an alternative site.