At last, Thimmakka gets a house of her own

March 13, 2013 09:26 am | Updated 09:26 am IST - Bangalore:

Housing Minister V. Somanna felicitates Salumarada Thimmakka at a ceremony in Bangalore on Tuesday. Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

Housing Minister V. Somanna felicitates Salumarada Thimmakka at a ceremony in Bangalore on Tuesday. Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

Salumarada Thimmakka, who captured public imagination by planting and painstakingly nurturing around 284 banyans on a stretch of national highway in Ramanagaram district, was handed over a house built for her by the Karnataka Housing Board (KHB) in Bangalore on Tuesday.

The house, built on a 30 ft. x 40 ft. site in Suryanagar at a cost of Rs. 14.5 lakh, was gifted to the octogenarian by the government, which also paid the registration fee. “No other government has done this so far. We have not only allotted the site, but also built a house for her,” said Housing Minister V. Somanna after handing over the allotment certificate to her.

Apart from Ms. Thimmakka, the Minister also handed over the allotment letter for a 50 ft. x 80 ft. site to yoga expert Prakash and a 60 ft. x 40 ft. site to Riyaz, an ex-serviceman from Chamarajanagar injured in a terror attack at Srinagar. Both these sites were given to them at a concessional rate.

Vivekananda Layout

Speaking to reporters, the Minister said the KHB would develop the Swami Vivekananda Layout at Jigani on 3,500 acres of land. “About 50,000 sites would be developed for which a budgetary support of Rs. 3,500 crore has been announced already. The layout will be developed in two to three years’ time,” he said.

Land acquisition will commence shortly and the KHB will buy the land directly from farmers, keeping out middlemen. On the rehabilitation of those evicted from Ejipura so controversially, he said five acres have been allotted at Varthur, and the Karnataka Slum Development Board would construct houses for them.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.