Dakshina Kannada district administration will send a proposal to the Rajiv Gandhi Rural Housing Corporation (RGRHC) to work on nearly 390 houses, for the economically-backward, built in Ombathukere , according to U.T. Khader, Minister for Health and Family Welfare .
During a visit on Tuesday to the nine-acre plot in Ombathukere Mr. Khader said there were two ways to proceed with the project.
“Either we beautify the houses and the area, provide toilets with leeching pits and a mini-sewage treatment plant or we demolish the structures and construct multi-level buildings,” he said.
In 2002, around 390 houses were constructed at a cost of Rs. 1.2 crore by the RGRHC under the Ashraya Scheme. With the houses not having been provided toilets or a drainage system, locals took the matter to court worried about the pollution of the nine “sacred” lakes (Ombathukere) nearby. The court had ruled that the houses could be handed over only after an underground drainage (UGD) network was laid in the area.
With the Rs. 65.71 crore UGD project for Ullal nearing its end, Mr. Khader said a meeting would be called with the RGRHC to finance and re-plan the project for 390 houses. The Corporation has schemes that plan out three-storey apartments where each house will be subsidised to the tune of Rs. 1.75 lakh, he said.
