Hyderabad: Home sweet home is a phrase that never gets old, and the meaning of which is on different levels for each person.
When a home becomes a reality after spending years fighting rains leaking through thatched roofs and living inside four walls that can crumble any time, the sweetness in ‘home sweet home’ is beyond words. Especially when it comes without cost for people who struggle for a square meal a day. That is the beauty of the Telangana government’s 2BHK housing scheme, also known as Dignity Housing Programme, because it allows people who have been neglected by erstwhile governments for long to live with dignity.
Banam Tariya, a daily-wage earner, lived with his wife and four children in a tattered hut, crammed for space and barely enough for the six persons to move about. On April 7, 2018, Tariya wept tears of joy as he stepped into his double-bedroom house at Singam Cheruvu Thanda.
“Our own home,” he kept repeating, at the same time thanking Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao.
“It still feels like a dream for me. Moving from a thatched hut into a double-bedroom house, that too without paying a single paisa,” was the reaction of 65-year-old P Laxmi Bai, whose family was one among the 100 families at Kattela Mandi in Nampally that celebrated Dasara in their new homes after receiving the keys from the government in October.
Step into any 2BHK housing community across GHMC and there is an emotional warmth that you notice first. The feeling of pride and gratitude on the owner’s face is unmissable. Under the Dignity Housing scheme, the GHMC is constructing one lakh double-bedroom houses for the poor at 111 different locations.
The plinth area of each unit is about 560 square feet. These units are being constructed in different blocks, including cellar, stilt and multi-floors structures. The government is constructing each unit at a cost of nearly Rs 8.65 lakh though the market value of these units will be much higher. The total estimated cost for the one lakh double-bedroom housing project is Rs 9,714 crore.
“Even in our dreams, we never thought we would have our own house. Now, without spending a single rupee, we have a double-bedroom house! This is a memorable day for us,” was how Marrekka, a 2BHK owner at Erukula Nancharamma community, said in June after receiving the keys of her brand new home.
Allotment
Houses are allotted to beneficiaries through draw of lots in the presence of elected public representatives, residents and others to avoid irregularities. After the Revenue Department enquires into the eligibility, a final list of beneficiaries is prepared for a site.
The State government has been insisting that double-bedroom houses are a matter of self-respect and not just concrete constructions. It is not mere brick and cement at a few sites. The GHMC has taken up innovative construction methodologies. For instance, 6,240 double-bedroom houses are being constructed in 41 acres of land at Rampally village, Keesara mandal. The project is almost ready for inauguration.
DEC Infra, the firm executing the project, said they were adopting the Shear Wall Technology that enables the work to be completed in a short time compared to conventional methods.
Listing out the advantages of the technology, firm representatives had said it facilitated to lay the concrete walls and slab simultaneously. One floor is completed in 36 to 48 hours, which means a tower of 10 floors can be completed within a month. The structure is robust in nature and can withstand seismic earthquakes. This type of technology is being adopted first time in the government sector, they said.
Project draws national attention
Hyderabad: The GHMC’s 2BHK project is drawing national attention and many experts, infrastructure companies, construction company teams have already visited different sites here.
In 2017, a media team from Varanasi visited the IDH Colony and other double-bedroom house sites in the city. This apart, Ministers and officials from other States too have examined the 2BHK houses being constructed in the city.
Recently, the GHMC double-bedroom project at Kollur bagged the Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited (HUDCO) award for Best Practices 2019-20 under Housing, Urban Poverty and Infrastructure theme. GHMC is taking up a huge project of constructing 15,660 double-bedroom houses at Kollur at a cost of Rs 1,408 crore.
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