Bda Brakes On Housing For Mahisakhal Slum Dwellers, Real Estate News, ET RealEstate
BHUBANESWAR: The Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) has decided to put on hold the remaining work of the slum redevelopment housing project it had taken up at Mahisakhal in Badagada here meant to rehabilitate the residents of the nearby slums.
The BDA took up the project back in 2013 under the erstwhile Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) under which a G+4-storied building was sanctioned to be constructed to rehabilitate slum dwellers. It was planned to construct as many as 19 blocks with nearly 700 dwelling units in the project.
The BDA had hired a private contractor and started the construction and has completed the work on nearly 15 blocks but it could not construct the rest four blocks due to land issues and later funds crunch, sources said.
In the meantime, based on a survey conducted by the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), the houses in the 15 completed blocks were allotted to eligible slum dwellers, but a number of them remained without a house as construction of the four blocks could not be completed. A high-level meeting in this regard was held recently to discuss the issues with the project where the BDA officials have reasoned that land acquisition and later administrative problems with the private contractor has led to the delay in completion of the project.
They said cost escalation was another issue. In the meeting, minutes of which were accessed by TOI, the officials said for construction of the remaining four blocks, BDA needs Rs 20.75 crore.
“The leftover part of the project at Mahisakhal couldn’t be taken up as both RAY and PMAY schemes were discontinued. We will take the decision on rehabilitation of remaining few beneficiaries shortly,” BDA vice-chairman Balwant Singh told TOI.
