“In every house of this colony, at least two families are residing. In my house, three families are living,” said Yellappa, a municipal worker here.
Mr. Yellappa was explaining the living condition of municipal workers in a colony near Pension Mohalla in Hassan to Karnataka State Safai Karmachari Commission Chairman Narayana on Wednesday.
Two or three families living in small houses of one bedroom each is a common thing in the colony.
For many years, 100 families of municipal workers have been residing in about 50 small houses of over 300 sq ft to 400 sq ft area each. They have made compartments within the available space, as the number of members in the family increased.
In a house owned by Mangala, municipal worker, three families have been living. The workers appealed to Mr. Narayana to provide them with better housing facility. Mr. Narayana visited many houses and talked to members of the families living there.
Later, he told presspersons that the commission would consider their demand seriously and take measures to construct 140 houses for pourakarmikas, including those working on contract basis.
Each house would be constructed on a plot measuring 600 sq ft, he said.
At a recent meeting with the Hassan district administration officials, Mr. Narayana said the commission would provide up to Rs. 7 lakh a house for municipal workers.
The district administration should identify a suitable land for the housing scheme, he said. He instructed the officials to prepare a list of manual scavengers who died while cleaning soak pits in the last 20 years and arrange to provide a compensation of Rs. 10 lakh each to their families. “There is a Supreme Court order to release a compensation of Rs. 10 lakh each to such families. This applies to families of all those who died in the last 20 years,” he said.
‘Will consider their demand and take measures to construct 140 houses for pourakarmikas’
Commission to provide up to Rs. 7 lakh a house for municipal workers
