VISAKHAPATNAM: As per the recent feedback from MLAs and other ruling party representatives of various Assembly constituencies in the city, district administration estimated that around 1,20,000 new houses are required for the homeless families across the city and around 600 to 1,000 acres of lands are required for providing ‘houses to all’ (eligible BPL families in the city). Now, that much land is not available in and around the city and authorities are deliberating on the issue.
High requirement and low availability is the present scenario of land acquisition process here. The requirement of houses in the Vizag East and West constituencies is very high and officials estimate that `50 to `200 crore are required for the construction of the estimated number of houses for the poor.
Recently, ministers P Narayana and Ganta Srinivasa Rao conducted a meeting with joint collector G Srijana, Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development authority commissioner P Basanth Kumar and the district housing officials, along with the officials of AP Township and Infrastructure Development Corporation and discussed the issue. After reviewing the land availability for housing projects, the ministers and district officials came to a conclusion that at first they would complete the ongoing, already sanctioned housing projects. As per the decision, district authorities are focusing on expediting housing projects.
District authorities have started constructing 23,750 houses out of the sanctioned 54,299 houses in the district. For the city-based housing schemes, authorities are waiting for government orders. The Collector said that the government had sanctioned an additional 54,299 houses for the BPL families in the City Assembly constituencies.