The Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) has decided to shift around 3,500 tenements from its Perumbakkam site to other sites that are coming up around the city. According to sources, this is being done as the Board is concerned about the concentration of slum tenements in one location, and wants to reduce this. The step was taken as a cautionary measure.
The move will also help reduce the number of floors in the buildings. Previously, G+7 buildings with elevators had been proposed in the 120 acre site in Perumbakkam, off Rajiv Gandhi Salai, but now that is being brought down to G+3, the official said.
A total of 23,863 dwelling units had been planned at the site, which would also have a Middle Income Group (MIG) component to cross subsidise economically weaker section (EWS) units. The project to construct 20,376 units at a cost of Rs. 1,200 crore, is being undertaken under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission scheme and already 6,000 units have been constructed. Each house with a plinth area of 399 sq.ft., will have a multipurpose room, bedroom, kitchen, bath and toilet and a sit out, the official explained.
Of the 3,488 houses that are being moved to other locations, 1,024 are being constructed at a seven-acre site in Koodapakkam, 2,048 in Navalur (12-acre site) and 416 to the tsunami quarters in Ennore. These three projects are expected to be completed by March 2014.
Beneficiaries for these projects are being identified by the Chennai Corporation and the Public Works Department through biometric surveys. People living along various waterways in the city will be moved to these tenements. So far, 4,000 families have been identified, officials added
