Ex-CM Siddaramaiah’s ‘1 lakh houses’ scheme travels to other cities

BENGALURU: The State Government has extended the ‘Chief Minister’s One Lakh Houses’ Scheme, introduced by CM Siddaramaiah, to other cities in the state in the budget. However, a housing expert has expressed reservations with the construction, which has been planned as ground plus fourteen floors in
the city.

The Budget also has made provision for development of slum localities in municipal areas through public-private partnerships, and has announced three per cent reservation for persons with disability in current housing projects.

In the One Lakh Houses Scheme, the initial plan was to construct buildings with ground plus three floors on government land. These would provide one lakh residences to economically backward sections of society, in an area of 1,500 acres. Some areas where land has been identified are Kada Agrhara, Horamaavu, Kodigehalli, Devagere, Kittanahalli, Mallasandra, Thotagere, Naadenaalli, Gollahalli and Bidaraguppe.

The Rajiv Gandhi Rural Housing Corporation Limited has been entrusted to construct the houses. However, authorities from the office of Bengaluru Urban DC encountered hurdles in the form of rocky, uneven land and land under litigation. Therefore, they decided on 14 floors instead of three, to occupy less land.

Housing expert Dyan Belliappa raised many concerns with the 14-floor plan: “Such house units tend to be small, while low income communities tend to thrive in open areas. So in high rises, will they also provide such an area? What might happen is you have a house, but no life. Though the government builds it, they follow the same profit-based model as the developer, which is criminal. I’m not too sure if going so high
is the solution”.