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Slum Development / Housing

Tiruchi gears up for cleaniness test, as guidelines get tougher

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The Hindu     10.08.2017  

Tiruchi gears up for cleaniness test, as guidelines get tougher

Smaller cities to be included

Even as the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs revised its guidelines for Swachh Survekshan 2018 (clean city ranking), Tiruchi City Corporation has geared up to meet them in order to improve its ranking.

Tiruchi secured sixth position among 434 cities in the 2017 ranking and third among 73 cities in 2016. It was adjudged the second cleanest city in the country when the Swachh Survekshan system was introduced for the first time in 2015.

However, in order to provide an opportunity to smaller cities, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has proposed to cover 4,041 towns in the 2018 survey that will be conducted in January-February.

While 500 cities with more than one lakh population and capitals of States and Union Territories will have all India ranking, 3,541 cities with less than one lakh population will have state and zonal rankings.

Citizen feedback

Corporation Commissioner-cum-Special Officer, Tiruchi, N. Ravichandran told The Hindu that as per the new guidelines, rankings would be based on 71 sanitation-related parameters with different weightage. Similarly, the cumulative marks had also gone up to 4,000 from 2,000. More weightage would be given to citizen feedback. There was also negative marking.

While Tiruchi city was a top performer in clean city ranking since 2015, there was a need to take several more steps to improve the ranking. The ranking methodology had become tougher this year. However, the city could improve its ranking by involving various stakeholders including citizens. It had started addressing each and every issue as per the revised guidelines, he added.

 

Tamil Nadu preparing plan to build 8.03 lakh affordable homes for urban poor

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The New Indian Express       19.05.2017   

Tamil Nadu preparing plan to build 8.03 lakh affordable homes for urban poor

By C Shivakumar  |  Express News Service  |   Published: 19th May 2017 04:09 AM  |  

Last Updated: 19th May 2017 04:09 AM  |   A+A-   |  

CHENNAI: The total requirement for urban housing for slum and non-slum households under ‘Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Housing For All’ scheme in the State is 8.03 lakh, according to a demand survey done by Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board.

The State, which signed an MoU with the Union government, had to conduct a survey for assessing the actual housing requirement. It is a basic necessity following which the State has to come out with a Housing for All plan of action.

According to census figures, the State has a total of 16.24 lakh urban slum households of which 7.53 lakh live in the 12 corporations. The State currently requires an additional 12.94 lakh homes to be provided to the urban poor, 6.72 lakh of which are required in the 12 corporations.

As per the Housing For All mission, the houses constructed should either be in the name of the female head of the household or as joint ownership. The annual income limit for beneficiaries under the economic weaker section is about Rs 3 lakh per year. For beneficiaries under the low-income group, the number is between Rs 3-6 lakh per year.

Sources said that the focus is now on constructing affordable houses for the slums and non-slum households. It is learnt that the guidelines for building affordable houses have been prepared. The affordable homes have been distinguished under three categories with areas up to 40, 60 and 75 square metres.

Similarly, the Slum Clearance Board is looking at innovative methods to construct housing for poor as mandated by the scheme. “Among the available new technologies in the construction sector for building tenements, the Slum Clearance Board is looking at prefabrication, monolithic construction and Glass Fiber Reinforced Gypsum,” sources said.

In fact, prefabrication is being used in three ongoing projects in Moorthingar Street in North Chennai, Sholinganallur in South Chennai and Erode.

The Slum Clearance Board is also encouraging tenders where any approved technology is acceptable for implementation. Institutions like IIT Madras, National Institute of Technology Trichy and Anna University are engaged in evolving new technologies, TNSCB sources said.

Meanwhile, the Slum Clearance Board has proposed to conduct a workshop on technology innovation along with the Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council (BMTPC) in mid-June for technocrats, engineers, builders and developers.

Four new variants

Prefabrication: Used for multi-storey projects. Columns, beams, lintels with sunshade are manufactured to the given dimension in factories or precast yards and brought to sites during implementation.


Monolithic construction: Modular formwork made out of aluminium plastic composites are used for walls, floors, slabs, stairs together with window openings, cast in one place.

Glass Fibre Reinforced Gypsum: Consists of building panel products made of calcined gypsum, plaster, reinforced with glass fibres for mass scale building construction.

Pre-engineered building: Entire structure is pre-sheared, pre-punched, pre-drilled, pre-welded and pre-formed in factories before being shipped to the site for erection.

 

Tamil Nadu CM Palaniswami seeks special package for rehab of slum dwellers in Chennai

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The New Indian Express         15.05.2017 

Tamil Nadu CM Palaniswami seeks special package for rehab of slum dwellers in Chennai

By Express News Service  |   Published: 15th May 2017 03:14 AM  |  

CHENNAI: The State government has requested the Centre to provide a special package, on a 50:50 cost-sharing basis, to rehabilitate slum-dwellers in Chennai.

The request figured in the memorandum Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami presented to Union Minister for Urban Development, Housing and Poverty Alleviation Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday. The memorandum sought the support of the Central government for several urban development related issues.

“I request a special package under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Housing For All) mission to construct 1 lakh multi-storeyed flats over a period of four years at a total cost of Rs 10,000 crore,” the Chief Minister said.

Several other issues were highlighted in the memorandum, including securing financial assistance for a proposed 400 million litre per day (MLD) desalination plant, costing Rs 5312 crore, in Chennai. The Centre was requested to help secure project funding from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The Ministry of Urban Development was  also urged to approve smart city proposals for six cities, viz, Tiruchy, Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Erode, Tiruppur and Dindigul.


The CM also appealed for the inclusion of Tamil Nadu co-operative federation as an implementing agency for the credit linked subsidy scheme under the Housing for All mission. Since the federation had vast reach among urban poor, its inclusion would help in effective implementation of the mission.

 


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