The Hindu             24.10.2013

Housing board approves projects for developing slums

Minister for Housing M.H. Ambareesh said here on Wednesday that the Karnataka Housing Board (KHB) has approved three projects costing Rs. 177 crore for the development of 16 slums in Hubli-Dharwad.

Speaking to presspersons here, he said slums in Hubli-Dharwad have not improved for long. The new project would ensure basic amenities and infrastructure for selected slums, he said.

Mr. Ambareesh said the housing department was aiming for vertical growth of tier II cities. Accordingly, the government would adopt G+3 housing model in these cities. He expressed confidence of reaching the target of two lakh houses in the current year.

The board would conduct a survey of the homeless and they would be allotted houses as per the annual quota under different housing schemes. The State government has planned to construct 15 lakh houses in the next five years, he said.

During the review meeting, MLAs complained about the construction of houses being blocked in their constituencies and demanded measures for completing the projects. Construction quality has been far better when compared to earlier work, Mr. Ambareesh said.

Answering a query, he said funds to beneficiaries of housing schemes in the State would be directly credited to their bank accounts after the details of the houses were updated on the website, along with Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates. Panchayat development officers and nodal officers would be trained to use the GPS system and ensure beneficiaries were not deprived of the benefits, he added.