In a significant move towards providing dwelling houses to urban poor, a total number of 1, 39,149 dwelling houses have been sanctioned for homeless households in 114 towns and cities of Odisha.
This was known from the State Level Sanctioning and Monitoring (SLSM) committee meeting held under the Chairmanship of Additional Chief Secretary and Development Commissioner Suresh Chandra Mohapatra from Lokseba Bhawan on Wednesday. Principal Secretary Housing and Urban Development G Mathivathanan outlined the issues for discussion. Reviewing the progress made so far, Development Commissioner Mohapatra directed the urban local bodies (ULBs) to intensify Jaga Mission activities in their respective areas.
Further, Mohapatra directed the Revenue and Disaster Management Department and ULBs to identify more patches of land and protect those from encroachment for bringing the dispersed houses into one place of resettlement so that they could be provided other basic services in a more organised manner.
The ULBs were also directed to identify the slum dwellers who could be allotted homestead land under the Forest Rights Act (FRA) in urban areas.
Presenting the updates, Mission Director Suresh Chandra Dalai informed so far 1,39 ,149 houses had been sanctioned in favor of urban poor families out of which 1, 04,838 work orders had been issued”. Till now 54,034 houses have been completed and rests are at different stages of construction, he told. The committee considered and approved new 8,273 housing project proposals received from 52 ULBs with estimation of Rs 24,828.04 lakh.
Joint Director Sushant Mishra appraised that earlier around 7,000 housing units recommended by SLSM Committee were sent to the Government of India (GoI) for final approval.
With the GoI approval, more than 15,273 new beneficiary households would get their own dwelling houses. Development Commissioner Mohapatra directed to strengthen ground level follow-up for early completion of the sanctioned houses.
Out of 1,39149 sanctioned houses, 7,300 were sanctioned under in-situ slum redevelopment programme, 6,962 were sanctioned under affordable housing programme and the balance 1,24,887 units were sanctioned under beneficiary led constriction (BLC) programme