BENGALURU: While several projects of the State Government have come to a grinding halt due to Covid-19, its ambitious project to build one lakh houses for Bengaluru’s poor is on track. The government aims to complete the project by 2022 — the deadline set by Housing Minister V Somanna. In September 2017, the State Cabinet had approved construction of one lakh houses for the economically weaker sections, on government land cleared of encroachment.
In 2018, the State Government called for tenders to construct the groundplus- three-floor structures on 1,500 acres of land. Acquiring the required land proved to be a Herculean task for the authorities due to a land crunch in the city. The project, however, has now gained momentum. According to a senior official of the Rajiv Gandhi Housing Corporation Limited, most of the encroachments have been cleared and construction of 46,499 houses under Phase I has commenced at 46 locations in the city.
The State Government has so far identified 48,615 beneficiaries. While 200 houses are being constructed at a few sites, more than 10,000 are being built on larger sites. All the houses are high-rise buildings starting from groundplus- three floors. Tender process is on for the remaining houses. The official said that the workforce varies between 300 and 2,000 on each site, depending on the size of the project. “We are facing several hurdles like delay in getting construction material, workers getting Covid etc.
We are testing them every fortnight and also when they show Covid symptoms. We isolate them if they show symptoms. To expedite the project, workers are working in 2-3 shifts. When there are more people in isolation, we reduce the shifts,” the official added. Of the 46,499 houses being built, 8,000 are 2 BHK and the remaining are 1 BHK units. While the 2 BHK houses will be auctioned, the cost of one 1 BHK house is Rs 10.6 lakh and for SCs/STs beneficiaries, Rs 3.7 lakh will be given by the government (Union and State governments) and for General category, Rs 2.8 lakh will be provided. Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa had recently met bankers and told them to provideloanstoall the beneficiaries.