K'taka Govt to provide dwelling units for all by 2010

Bangalore, Dec 16: The Karnataka Housing Board (KHB) is working towards ensuring that no person was left houseless by 2010 in the State, Housing Minister D T Jayakumar announced today.

Speaking to newspersons here, he said that according to a survey in 2003, 25.5 lakh people had no place to live in the State. Of them, 12.5 lakh people belonged to houseless and 13 lakh to siteless category. The State Government had identified beneficiaries for three lakh houses during this year and another three lakh people would be provided with houses additionally.

Giving details about various schemes under which houses were being constructed, he said that under the Jawaharalal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), 50 slum areas were being developed at a cost of Rs 234.79 crore in Bangalore and Mysore and the Integrated Housing and Slum Development Project was being implemented in the rest of the State to construct 32,760 houses in 48 urban cities involving Rs 425 crore, he explained, adding that 34,333 houses would be completed under the Valmiki Ambedkar Awas scheme by July next.

Mr Jayakumar said the Rajiv Gandhi Rural Housing Corporation, started six years ago, had so far constructed 9.85 lakh houses for poor people.

The Minister said that of its 100 housing schemes, the KHB had completed 60 schemes involving construction of 2,069 houses and developing 9,529 sites with an investment of Rs 245.94 crore and was developing 37 schemes at a cost of Rs 592.85 crore.

He said the KHB was also toying with the idea of having a joint venture to develop the second phase of Suryanagar housing project on the outskirts of the city. A notification to acquire 2,000 acres of land had been issued for the purpose. The first phase of the project involving 2,500 houses and sites each would be allotted through lottery before January 26. The Board had received 88,000 applications from aspirants, he added.

UNI