Tenements to take shape under new scheme

They will now be constructed under Disaster Preparedness Project of the State government

January 29, 2012 02:24 am | Updated July 25, 2016 07:44 am IST - CHENNAI:

CHENNAI : 19/01/2012 : A View of Nochikuppam Tenements on the Marina Beach on Thursday. Photo : M_Vedhan.

CHENNAI : 19/01/2012 : A View of Nochikuppam Tenements on the Marina Beach on Thursday. Photo : M_Vedhan.

New houses for residents of tenements on the Marina Beach will be taken up under a Disaster Preparedness Project of the State government.

The Urban Housing Component of the Emergency Tsunami Reconstruction Project (ETRP) under which tenements were earlier planned in the slums affected by the tsunami would not be pursued, said an official of the Housing and Urban Development Department.

The Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board was unable to complete the reconstruction of the tenements before December 2011 deadline. The project was to be implemented with World Bank funding.

“The tenements in the slums on the Marina are structurally weak. Had the cyclone ‘Thane' hit Chennai, the dilapidated tenements would have collapsed. Many residents would have been injured or killed,” said an official of the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board.

The project to reconstruct tenements on the Marina failed to take off on account of the lack of consensus among residents, who are beneficiaries of the project. The demand for more houses by beneficiaries citing lack of adequate space for all family members was another reason for the delay in shifting of the residents to temporary shelters.

The relocation of over 800 families in Nochi Kuppam on the Marina Beach to temporary shelters as part of the reconstruction project began last year. Families that had huts as their dwelling units had relocated to the temporary shelters 300 metres away but most of the residents of 534 dilapidated tenements were unwilling to vacate the house to facilitate the reconstruction.

Over 800 residents of Srinivasapuram tenements would have to move to Okkiyam Thoraipakkam on account of the reduced FSI permissible in the CRZ. But the beneficiaries are reluctant to leave Srinivasapuram citing livelihood issues. Over 3,500 houses were originally proposed to be reconstructed in Srinivasapuram. But the CRZ norms permit a reduced number of houses in the reconstruction project, said officials.

All unfinished works of the ETRP under which 13,000 houses were proposed to be constructed in Chennai would be taken up under the new Disaster Preparedness Project, which is being formulated. Details regarding the funding for the new houses, including whether World Bank would finance it, would be decided later.

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.