MOHALI: To keep a tab on mushrooming of slums and large-scale encroachment on government land, an executive engineer with the Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA) has come up with an innovative idea – a movable house for slum dwellers.

The 9×12 feet room will have a bed box and two berths, similar to the way in trains – one folded and other fixed.
The room will take 7 days to prepare and can be easily shifted from one place to another with the help of a crane.

The design has been submitted to the chief engineer, PUDA, for approval. NS Kalsi, executive engineer of PUDA, who prepared the design said, “Slum dwellers encroach upon a land and even after their rehabilitation, they sell it further. The process continues and it becomes hard to get the land vacated.” Stating that his design also has provision of double-storey rooms, Kalsi said, “Around 90 such structures can be set up on 1 acre along with a common toilet and bath facility.” The executive engineer said one structure would cost around Rs 74,000 and this could be recovered by renting out the house to the migrant population. He said the movable rooms would also have provision of enclosed area, including proper security system. “This will help in maintaining a detailed record of people coming from other states as rooms will be rented only after documents are submitted.”