Housing programme for urban poor hangs in the balance with hardly any response from the State government to bear the land development expenses.
The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation proposed to construct 30,000 houses for the urban poor under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and the Rajiv Awas Yojna (RAY). The schemes were also sanctioned to the city under the JNNURM programme. The VMC, however, could not take up work for want of land.
Officials identified 800 acres at Gollapudi near here. They convinced farmers to develop their land in 40:60 ratio. Later, they sent a proposal to the Government urging it to foot the land development expenses. It is estimated to cost Rs.162 crore to develop 798.27 acres.
The proposals were sent in July 2010. Officials monitoring JNNURM in New Delhi inspected the land at Gollapudi in January this year and reportedly expressed their satisfaction over Public Private Partnership (PPP) model in housing scheme.
According to information, district Collector S.A.M. Rizvi recently wrote a letter to the government reminding it about the land development.
Deadline
The government, however, is yet to respond to the proposals. The VMC is worried about the fast approaching deadline of the JNNURM programme. The seven-year JNNURM programme concludes in March 2012. Unless the schemes are launched before the deadline, the corporation would not be able to reap the benefits of the programme.
The corporation is proposing to construct 10,000 houses under the JNNURM and another 20,000 under the RAY to meet the requirements of the city. Each would cost Rs. 4 lakh, including Rs. 3 lakh for house and Rs. 1 lakh for infrastructure.
In all, it would cost Rs.1,200 crore for the 30,000 houses.
