The Hindu      19.09.2014  

Kollam gets Rs. 20.3-crore project for slum clearance

The pilot scheme of the Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) in the State will be implemented in Kollam city. The technical sanction for this was obtained on Tuesday. The Centrally sponsored scheme aims at creating slum-free cities. The pilot project will be implemented at the SMP Palace slum colony.

Mayor Prasanna Earnest told press persons on Thursday that it will be a Rs. 20.30 crore project. Fifty per cent of the amount will be funded by the Centre, 30 per cent by the State government and the remaining 20 per cent equally shared by the Kollam City Corporation and the beneficiaries. One hundred and ninety-five families at the pilot scheme colony will be benefitted. Two room kitchen apartments in eight-storey blocks will be constructed. Under the second phase 25 slums in Kollam city will be covered by RAY. Ms. Earnest said that Rs.500 crore will be obtained as grant from the Centre.

Meeting planned

A meeting between the stakeholders and consultant of the scheme will be held at 3 p.m. on October 10 at the Municipal Council hall, she said.

While the Pullikada slum colony had the top priority of the Corporation to implement the scheme, the property where the slum stands is still under the ownership of the Railways. RAY stipulates that the scheme will be implemented only on land owned by city Corporations.

In August 2011, Kollam became the first city in the State to complete the basic formalities to implement the RAY scheme. In 2013, the detailed project report was prepared by the Centre of Science and Technology for Rural Development (Costford) and on May 13, the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee gave the green signal for the scheme.