Yerwada slums will be the first in the country to get JNNURM facility
Indian Express: Seven slums in the city will be the first in the country to reap the benefits of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme. Another first will be that the novel in-situ concept that has been adopted to rehabilitate some 1,200 families are high density slums of Yerwada area in the city — Mother Teresa Nagar, Yashwant Nagar, Bhat Wasti, Netaji Nagar, Sheela Salve Nagar, Wadar Wasti, and Chandrama Nagar.
With construction slated to begin in about two weeks, the concept is based on the principal of rebuilding only the kuccha homes in the slums and bringing them on par with the pucca dwellings, rather than following the earlier practice of razing the entire slum area and then rebuilding houses.
“A sustained process of housing improvement is only possible with the participation, consent and contribution of the beneficiary to ensure that the assets created are maintained over time. Giving due thought to the community aspects, we have evolved the methodology of this in-situ rehabilitation work project whereby patterns that have evolved during time are preserved,” said Prasanna Desai, architect and urban design consultant, who is giving architectural support to the project.
According to V R Patil, supervisory engineer JNNURM, who has been involved in the project from the beginning, Yerwada will see the pilot project taking shape which may well be replicated in the rest of the country. “Along with Yerwada, the slums at Parvati Taljai too are being similarly rehabilitated. The state government has already received Rs 140 crore from the Centre, which is about 25 per cent of the total sum promised,” said Patil.
According to the Basic Services for the Urban Poor scheme (BSUP) under JNNURM, a housing subsidy of Rs 3 lakh per house has been allotted of which 90 per cent funding is from the government while 10 per cent comes from the beneficiary.
“After surveying and mapping the entire slums, we have been holding talks with the beneficiaries over the past few months to explain the scheme to them. Once the residents agree to the proposal, they enter into an agreement with the PMC for the construction. They deposit their share of the amount in a joint account opened in the bank and the government deposits the rest. This process is on now. We have also put up models of 270-sqft houses we would construct and hope to begin work by September 20. The residents have been asked to make arrangements for temporary staying for the next six months,” said Avinash Salve, corporator of the area.
Savita Sonawane of the Mahila Milan wing of SPARC, an NGO working as the link between the PMC and the slum dwellers in the project, said the response has been positive with no one having opposed the scheme yet. Mukesh Manekar, a slum dweller of Bhat Nagar whose kaccha house will be made into pucca, said he supported the scheme. “We have deposited Rs 5,000 each and will be giving the rest as per the construction progress, as suggested by Salve so that there is no financial burden on us,” he added.
The total number of slums to be upgraded in the city is around 400.
More articles by The Desk
- Website to promote child rights launched - March 19th, 2010
- City nightlife is entangled in many restrictions - March 19th, 2010
- Ford India launches 'Figo' in the city - March 19th, 2010
- Opus - one of Pune’s live-band restaurants, is closing down - March 19th, 2010
- Pune is a premier business hub, finds study by UKBIC - March 19th, 2010
