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Slum Development / Housing

3,000 luckiest get BDA flats through lottery

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Deccan Herald             27.12.2013

3,000 luckiest get BDA flats through lottery

choice by chance: Visitors go through information on BDA properties at the inauguration  of the lottery system in the City on Thursday. dh photo

Shekhar B K, who works at a puncture shop in KR Puram, always wanted his own home, and now his dream has come true. He is a proud owner of a one-bedroom BDA flat in Valagerahalli.

“I have finally got a place of my own. I am not well-educated, I will ensure that all the money which I used to spend on rent every month, will now be utilised in the education of my two sons. I am happy I have got a flat in my first attempt itself,” Shekhar said.

He paid Rs 34,500 as initial deposit for the flat and will now have to pay the rest of the amount, Rs 8.2 lakh in eight instalments.

Similar is the story of N C Asha. Her dream has come true after eight years. The physically challenged woman had first applied for a site in 2011, but was unsuccessful. She then applied for a two-bedroom house in Nandini Layout and got it. She paid an initial deposit of Rs 93,750 and has been told that the flat costs Rs 12 lakh.

As many as 3,000 people were given flats at the BDA head office on Thursday, through the first-ever lottery system, introduced by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) for allotment of flats. The process of allotting flats through lottery was inaugurated by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. He also launched Drushti software, which provides spatial database and infrastructure details. 

BDA Commissioner T Sham Bhat said that as many as 1,806 one-BHK, 962 two-BHK and 506 three-BHK flats were given. The notifications were made for the flats. Those who had applied in the first notification have already got flats – 640 in Valagerahalli and 168 in Nandini Layout. The rest were awarded on Thursday.

He said those who applied in the second notification got flats on the first-come first-served basis and in the lottery; and flat numbers were issued to them. Applicants of the third notification got flats through lottery system. 

Further, those who were unsuccessful to get flats in the lottery will be the preferred ones for the next lottery, next year, along with fresh applicants. 

Bhat said that during the second notification, of the 466 people who had applied for 2BHK homes, 443 have got them. In case of 3BHK, as many as 469 applied and 122 were given flats through lottery. In the third notification, 1,306 applications were received for 2BHKs, of which 519 were given; and 758 applications were received for 3BHKs, of which 384 flats were provided through lottery.

 

Project to provide water to slums gathers steam

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The Hindu              23.12.2013

Project to provide water to slums gathers steam

Afshan Yasmeen

In the first phase, residents of 14 slums will benefit

Residents of 14 slums in the city will soon have access to regular drinking water and a sanitation system. An underground drainage system has already been put in place in 10 slums.

This is part of a project started by Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB). Last year, the agency proposed to supply water and offer underground drainage (UGD) in 96 slums. At present, it is about to complete work on water supply connections in 14 slums. Work on laying UGD lines has been completed in 10 slums, including in Arundathinagar, Gajanana Nagar, MCTR Pradesh, Bhoopsandra, Gautham Nagar, Gandhigrama and MC Colony.

A senior BWSSB official told The Hindu on Saturday that work on water supply and UGD in the remaining slums is underway. “Work is likely to gain momentum from next week,” the official said.

It had covered three slums — Cement Huts, Sudhamanagar and Chandranagar — between 2000 and 2002 as part of the AusAID Master Plan Project. The work was taken up as the slum development component of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) funded Cauvery 2nd Stage IVth Phase project. The aim was to ensure that slum-dwellers are not deprived of piped water and sanitation.

Inadequate services to the urban poor have always posed a major challenge to the Board in terms of unauthorised connections and related problems.

Last year, the Board roped in four non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to mobilise community support for ensuring drinking water and sanitary lines to the city’s 362 slums. Under this project, it proposes to provide pipelines and other accessories, including water meters, free of cost to the slum-dwellers. They will be charged only for the water used. The four NGOs – Mythri Sarva Seva Samithi, Indian Community Development Service Society, New Entity for Social Action and Mahatma Gandhi Trust – were chosen from among 120 organisations through a tender process, the official said.

They are entrusted with the task of conducting a door-to-door survey. Besides finding out the socio-economic status of each family, the survey is also aimed at finding out whether the family has access to safe drinking water, how much money they spent on water and whether they are ready to get metered connections installed at their doorstep.

Based on their report, the Board is likely to further subsidise the tariff for these communities, the official said.

 

6,000 BDA flats ready

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The Hindu               18.12.2013

6,000 BDA flats ready

Staff Reporter

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Tuesday that 6,000 flats built by the BDA are ready for occupation and the date of the formal unveiling would be announced next week.

He was speaking on the sidelines of his janaspandana programme. He also said that the allottees would be identified through a lottery system. This will be the first time in several years that the BDA will distribute subsidised residential properties to the public. These flats — one, two and three BHK apartments — are designed for middle, low and high income groups.

 


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