Taking the first steps towards improving the living conditions of Class IV employees who are allotted dilapidated and cramped living quarters in several government colonies across the city, the Union Ministry of Urban Development has proposed doing away with Type I quarters that are reserved for employees of the lowest cadre.
The Ministry wants the quarters to be replaced with bigger, well-planned living spaces which have essential amenities and are compliant with energy-efficiency norms.
“Incomes have gone up and so have expectations, therefore, a cramped, single room accommodation with little or no amenities is no longer an option; not even for those employed at the lowest cadre in the government,” a sources said .
The Ministry’s proposal to redevelop six government housing colonies – Netaji Nagar, Kasturba Nagar, Thyagraj Nagar, Sarojini Nagar, Srinivaspuri, and Mohammedpur – which will offer improved living spaces for all employees is being sent for the approval of the Union Cabinet.
“The new housing blocks will not have any Type I quarters. All the houses will have a larger floor area and the number of houses itself will be nearly doubled, which will alleviate the problem of housing shortage in the general pool accommodation,” the source said.
The redevelopment plan for Sarojini Nagar, Srinivaspuri and Mohammedpur by the Central Public Works Department and by the National Building Constructions Corporation in Netaji Nagar, Kasturba Nagar and Thyagraj Nagar is expected to take six years to complete.
At Rs. 2,000 crore, the Sarojini Nagar project will be the biggest in terms of size; the number of dwellings there will go up from 4,687 to 10,325. In Mohammedpur (Rs. 410 crore) and Srinivaspuri (Rs.7,500 crore) the number of quarters will go up to 768 from 328 and 4,170 from 1,432 respectively.
“All together these multi-storey buildings will add nearly 60,000 more houses to the pool,” the source said. Money for the project is being raised through the disposal of built-up areas and land parcels at the redevelopment site.
“There will be no additional burden on the exchequer. We will follow the earlier model of raising money through property disposal,” the source said.
Most of the old houses were built between1950 and 1960 and have over time outlived their utility. A survey of these quarters had raised concerns about their structural safety and had also pointed to their inadequacy in meeting the demand for space.
