KOCHI: A housing and rehabilitation project for puramboke dwellers at Vennalappara near Vennala began on Thursday.
Under the scheme, which is implemented as part of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), five individual homes and 22 apartments in four multi-family dwelling units will be constructed on holdings identified by the Kochi Corporation.
Each residential unit will have a carpet area of 350 sq ft. The construction is expected to commence after Onam.
The estimated cost of each unit is ₹3 lakh. The beneficiary share of ₹50,000 each will be provided by K. Chittilapilly Foundation. The first instalment of ₹10,000 was handed over to beneficiaries at a function held in the city on Thursday. Mayor Soumini Jain handed over the amount to individual beneficiaries in the presence of corporation councillors M.B. Muralidharan, Deepak Joy, and Joseph Alex.
Though the project will be executed by committees of beneficiaries, it will be planned, coordinated, and supervised by officials of the civic body. The corporation also plans to tap the corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds of various agencies to meet the expenses of the project.
The beneficiaries will be issued possession certificates for the holdings where the dwelling units will be constructed, though their ownership will remain with the civic body. The beneficiaries have been residing in the said areas for the past 40 years, said Mr. Muralidharan.
In the first phase of the project, construction of multiple units will be taken up on three holdings. Three-storey multiple dwelling units are being planned in each plot. The corporation plans to construct 19 apartments in Phase-I. For the remaining homeless people, plots will be developed after clearing the ones where homes are to be constructed, the councillor added.
