The Hindu : Fire-proof houses for 5,000 slum dwellers likely

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Apr 06, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu-Chennai

Fire-proof houses for 5,000 slum dwellers likely

By Feroze Ahmed

CHENNAI April 5 . About 5,000 hut dwellers in Chennai are likely to be provided with fire-proof houses by the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) this year under the Centre-sponsored Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojana (Vambay) scheme and the Eleventh Finance Commission (EFC) grant.

Another 4,000 houses are in the pipeline for slum dwellers in Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchi, Salem and Tirunelveli. About 30,000 slum buildings will be upgraded under the Vambay scheme. The Centre has earmarked Rs.25 crores for Tamil Nadu under the scheme for 2002-2003.

Vambay is the first Central housing scheme for the urban poor and is considered a pet project of the NDA Government. Besides the TNSCB, the Registrar of Housing Cooperatives, the Directorate of Town Panchayats, the Municipal Administration department and the Tamil Nadu Corporation for Development of Women have been identified to implement Vambay projects.

The TNSCB will initially construct 1,000 Mangalore-tile fire-proof houses (250 in Chennai) using the Rs.4-crore provision for the last fiscal. The houses will be completed by June, according to board officials.

For this fiscal, the TNSCB is scheduled to construct about 3,000 Mangalore-tile houses in Chennai and 3,250 in the districts at Rs.25 crores, replacing existing huts.

The State Government has to mobilise 50 per cent of the allocation as stipulated in the Vambay scheme either through its own provisions, loans from agencies like the HUDCO or contributions from the beneficiaries.

The TNSCB has arranged with the HUDCO to provide loans for the scheme at 10 per cent interest, repayable in 15 years, sources say. The beneficiaries will have to pay Rs.4,000 initially and Rs.180 monthly for 15 years to settle the dues. The modalities have to be finalised.

The TNSCB was caught in a quandary when the scheme was announced last year as it would have had to bear the burden of matching the Central fund. Officials preferred a grant to a loan and, according to sources, the Government has settled for a beneficiary participation model.

The Vambay scheme includes provisions for drinking water, sanitation and drainage and states that 25 per cent of the funds should be utilised for providing these facilities.

Using another provision of the Vambay scheme, the board will carry out structural repairs of 30,000 slum buildings considered unfit for habitation at Rs.9 crores. The tenements have been identified and the funds sanctioned, according to board officials.

Under the EFC grant, the board will construct 1,600 tenements at the Kannagi Nagar settlement in Oggiayam Thoraipakkam for residents of Dhidir Nagar, Mylapore, at Rs.20 crores.

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