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Slum dwellers in city to get duplex houses

An architect’s impression of a house proposed to be given to slum dwellers in Bangalore

BANGALORE: Most infrastructure projects entail displacement of people, particularly if they are urban-centric. Court battles and compensation claims drag on. In such a scenario, a proposal where the developer himself undertakes to build decent houses on independent plots and pays the balance amount of compensation (if the amount is more than the construction cost) for slum dwellers may sound strange.

However, for 240 families now residing at two slums — Basaveshwara and Jai Bheem — just behind the Bangalore City Railway Station, this could well be a reality. The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRC), which will be taking over these slums for the East-West line, will construct 160 dwelling units at Kottigepalya, Magadi Road, and 84 units at Peenya.

The Rajiv Gandhi Rural Housing Corporation will undertake the construction and BMRC will shortly sign the agreement even as the housing corporation has started the ground work on the construction sites.

Each family will be given a duplex house with 630 sq ft carpet area on a 625 sq ft independent plot. While the ground floor will have a 10 ft by 9 ft kitchen, a 13.2 ft by 11.2 ft hall and 10 ft by 6 ft a toilet-cum-bath, the first floor will have two bedrooms, measuring 13.2 ft by 11.2 ft and 10.1 ft and 9.10 ft respectively apart from a 9.1 ft by 6 ft toilet-cum-bath. The master bedroom will open into a 2.6-foot wide balcony.

BMRC Managing Director N. Sivasailam told The Hindu that the compensation amount payable to these families will be adjusted towards the cost of construction while BMRC will bear the cost of land. If the construction cost exceeds the compensation, the beneficiary need not pay any additional amount to the BMRC.

If the compensation is more than the construction cost, the balance will be paid to the family. Moreover, the title (ownership) of the residence will be given to a woman-member in the family, Mr. Sivasailam noted.

Asked why BMRC could not have opted for flats as is the usual practice for economically weaker sections instead of plots, Mr. Sivasailam riposted: “Do you want the economically weaker sections to remain as they are? The poor will not remain poor forever and they will expand their dwelling units as they prosper. As such, we have given the option of horizontal expansion of these dwelling units.”

Apart from providing asphalted roads, underground drainage, potable water and street lighting, BMRC has also ensured that a rainwater harvesting mechanism is in place for every two units. The cost of construction will be around Rs. 800 per square foot, Mr. Sivasailam added.

Though BMRC is offering the plots free to the displaced families, it has paid for the land being used for rehabilitation package.

The BMRC has, for the rehabilitation package, paid Rs.13.4 crore to the Social Welfare Department, for four acres of land at Kottigepalya, Mr. Sivasailam said. He said the housing project will be completed in a year.

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