After the policy for Housing for All in Urban Areas, Odisha, was notified in 2015, for the first time, chief minister Naveen Patnaik is scheduled to inaugurate more than 1,700 housing units for the urban poor in two projects here on Monday.
Developed by Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) in public private partnership (PPP), the projects have social infrastructure facilities such as neighbourhood shopping centres and community gathering space.
More than 7,000 housing units for the urban poor are in different stages of construction in the city.Under the 2015 policy, the government has seven different models to create affordable housing units, including by offering incentives to private developers.
Of the two projects to be inaugurated, one is called Buddha Vihar and has come up on a hill top right next to the Buddha Jayanti Park in Chandrasekharpur while the other has come up in posh Satya Nagar locality.
Buddha Vihar is a green field affordable housing project spread over 20.21 acre. It will have a total 2,600 housing units for the economically weaker sections (EWS). In Phase-I of the project, 820 dwelling units besides a multi-amenity centre and related infrastructure has been completed by the private partner and handed over to BDA for allotment.
BDA vice-chairman Balwant Singh said urban poor affected by various development projects in the smart city are being accommodated in the project. While the EWS dwelling units have come up on 11.95 acre, a private developer partnered for the project will get 6.5 acre for developing houses as per the market rate.
Sources said the EWS houses will be around 23 sq metre to 30 sq metre in size. The allottees will have to pay around Rs 1.5 lakh for which BDA is facilitating loans from banks for them.
The second project is Keshari Residency, an in-situ slum development project in Shanti Nagar slum of Satya Nagar. It is the first slum redevelopment project in Bhubaneswar Town Centre District (BTCD) to transform existing slum areas into an integrated housing development.
Of the total project area, the Phase- I Slum Redevelopment Project (SRP) Development has been taken up over more than four acre area with a total 840 EWS units. Of them, 560 EWS units are ready for use. In lieu of the development, the private developer will get 2.10 acre land patch for its own development, BDA sources said.
