Blore's Sooligunte housing project for poor to take 3-yrs

According to Karnataka Slum Development Board (KSDB) it will take three long years for the housing project to rehabilitate the evicted residents of Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) Quarters to be ready at Sooligunte, Sarjapur. This means that the thousands of families, ejected from their sheds at Ejipura, will have to make their own arrangements during the interim period.

A senior official of the KSDB said the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had already handed over five acres to the KSDB on Survey No.122 in Sarjapur. KSDB is ready with a detailed project report (DPR) to house over 900 residents, who are not the original allottees of the EWS Quarters at Ejipura, in five-storeyed housing complexes there.

The State government had granted “in-principle approval” on January 7 to the Rs. 57.09-crore project that may be taken up under the Rajiv Awas Yojana. The KSDB is hoping to get the Centre’s nod. A team of its officials will be going to New Delhi on January 30 for the purpose. It is only after this that the KSDB will be able to float tenders and appoint an agency to execute the project.