The city Corporation on Wednesday decided to amend the housing project being implemented under the Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) pilot project at Mathipuram colony, near Vizhinjam. Since the Harbour Engineering Department has not yet given any promises regarding the provision of two-and-a-half acres of additional land required as per the Detailed Project Report, the housing project was being amended to include one more floor per block. — the blocks will now comprise ground floor plus three storeys.
The decision was taken at a meeting held between the Corporation authorities and government officials, including Local Self-Government Principal Secretary James Varghese and Executive Director of the State nodal agency for Kudumbasree K.B. Valsala Kumari.
The Basic Services for the Urban Poor (BSUP) housing project at Karimadom Colony had taught the Corporation some harsh lessons regarding allocation of houses to the rightful beneficiaries. “As per the RAY guidelines, Revenue land can be acquired for the purpose of slum development, but we have received a positive response from the Harbour Department only for 50 cents required for the transit accommodation and not for the land required for the permanent structures. By including this condition in the project agreement with the government agency — Hindustan Prefab — we can ensure that more families would be accommodated in each flat,” Mayor K. Chandrika told The Hindu .
