More funds,few takers for PMC plans for poor

The government had approved the PMC proposal of constructing 40,000 dwelling units for slumdwellers. The civic administration has not been able to acquire enough land for it and is in a position to provide houses for only 16,280 slumdwellers at Hadapsar,Warje,Lohegaon,Kondhwa and Kothrud. Work is on at only two of the sites to build 7,380 apartments. “We are struggling to acquire land for the project,” Patil said.

He said the delay had not gone down well with the state and union governments. “The state urban development officials expressed displeasure at the delay and we are working hard to resolve the issues. The pace of the work has to be increased at any cost,” Patil said.

He added that they were exploring the possibilities of implementing the rest of the project under public private partnership by giving additional FSI which can be sold.

The first lot of at least 500 apartments will be ready soon,but they have few takers. Every beneficiary will get 227 square feet of built-up area and has to pay 10 per cent of the construction cost. The PMC will bear Rs 2.7 lakh to build each apartment. PMC coordinator for JNNURM works,Pravin Ashtikar said,“We have identified 2,000 beneficiaries. It is tough convincing them to avail themselves of the facility.”

There is a plan to allot at least 300 apartments on August 15,but it seems impossible,he said. “No beneficiary has come forward to pay the 10 per cent of the construction cost. The PMC is planning a tie-up with banks for enabling beneficiaries to get loans,” Ashtikar said.

The civic administration is planning an awareness campaign to convince slumdwellers to take advantage of the scheme,which is at present restricted to slumdwellers living on government land,especially on slopes and tops of hills and on river banks.

The slum break-up
Of the 2 lakh slums in the city,40,000 are on locations like hilltops,river beds and land reserved for specific public use. There are 5,142 slums on river beds,19,670 along nullahs and canals and 11,604 on tops of hills and slopes. As many as 3,584 are on land meant for roads and gardens.