The Hindu 11.11.2013
Urban slum dwellers to get flats soon
Construction work of apartments in Ammankulam almost complete
Towards the end of this month, the Tamil Nadu Slum
Clearance Board may handover the apartments it had built on behalf of
the Coimbatore Corporation for the urban poor.
According
to sources, the construction of apartments containing 792 flats in
Ammankulam was almost complete and the Board was giving finishing
touches.
The Board began constructing 904 flats in
Ammankulam sometime in 2008 for the Corporation, which had obtained
funds for the same from the Central Government under the Jawaharlal
Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission scheme’s Basic Services for the
Urban Poor (BSUP) component.
Under the BSUP, the
Corporation was to help urban poor have better houses by providing
financial assistance to those who had title deeds but lived in thatched
roof houses, and flats to those who did not have title deeds and lived
on encroached land along water bodies and on government lands. As per
the scheme, the Board began constructing the flats in Ammankulam in 16
blocks.
Structural stability
A
year after the start of the construction, one of the blocks sank a few
inches into the ground raising questions about the structural stability
of the apartment blocks under construction.
The Board
had to marshal the resources of structural engineers from engineering
colleges and technical institutions for remedial action. Based on the
advice, the Board demolished a block to bring down the number of flats
to 792.
The sources said that the Board had also
provided sewerage, street light, community hall and other facilities for
the residents to-be in Ammankulam.
Once it handed
over the apartments, the Corporation would relocate the beneficiaries
identified and once the latter shifted, would demolish their old houses.
The sources said that the process of handing over the houses and demolishing the old houses could take a few more months.
The
Board was also keen to complete the Ukkadam project, where it was
building 2,904 flats under the same scheme, sources said. It was
building a few more apartments across the city to relocate the urban
poor.
Construction work of apartments in Ammankulam almost complete.