The Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) has decided to rehabilitate as many as 85 families of P&T Colony found living in a pitiable condition along Perandoor canal.
The colony in Gandhi Nagar division has been a stumbling block to the Kochi Corporation being declared Open Defecation Free (ODF), as the sewage pipes are emptied out into the Perandoor Canal, thus depriving the city of valuable 200 points in Swachh Survekshan, the cleanliness survey undertaken by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. The residents of the colony continue to lead a miserable life in run-down structures, even as the canal water mixed with sewage retracts into houses during high tide, tossing hygiene right out of the window.
“We have decided to rehabilitate these families in a tract of 35 cents worth over ₹7 crore under the Life Mission scheme of the State government for the homeless. The construction of houses will begin as soon as government approval is obtained, and the houses will be handed over to the beneficiaries in a year. The exact location of the project will be identified later after considering factors like availability of open space and access to livelihood for families being rehabilitated,” GCDA Chairman C.N. Mohanan told the media here on Tuesday.
Under the Life Mission scheme, the government bears half the project cost, while the rest is met by the local bodies concerned from their Plan funds.
Since the GCDA is not entitled to carry out Plan fund allocation, the authority will approach the government seeking sanction of the amount equivalent to that released from the Plan fund for the execution of the multi-storey rehabilitation project, Mr. Mohanan said.
Most houses in the colony have less than 200 sq ft built-up area, whereas the GCDA proposes to construct houses of 400 sq ft at an estimated cost of around ₹7.20 lakh each. Mr. Mohanan promised that the rehabilitation would be within the corporation limits unlike other Life Mission projects for which land is mostly sought in rural areas, thus posing hurdles to beneficiaries dependent on livelihoods within the city limits.
He said that the High Court had ordered the demolition of the colony in the past, and that the residents continued to stay there under a threat of being evacuated as they had given an affidavit to the court agreeing to move out any time.
Gandhi Nagar division councillor Poornima Narayan and GCDA secretary Joseph were present at the press meet.
