BDA to allot 600 houses to poor

BANGALORE: The long pending aspirations of many poor people to own a house of their own in the city is likely to materialize very soon as the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) is in the process of allotting the first 600 of the proposed 50,000 houses. This is part of its maiden housing project to provide affordable housing to people from economically weaker sections.BDA Commissioner Bharat Lal Meena said, “The work on 600 houses Valagerahalli near Kengeri and Nandini Layout are nearing completion and therefore, we have decided to allot them at the earliest.” “All the 600 houses are two bedroom apartments measuring 350 sq ft each and we have priced them between Rs 5.5 and 7.5 lakh. These houses will be allotted to some of the 1,300 applicants who have already paid money for the houses on first come first serve basis. We will allot the houses to the remaining applicants in the next phase of the project,” Meena gave details. The BDA is constructing 200 apartments at Nandini Layout and 400 apartments in Valagerahalli in the form of four-storeyed buildings. The apartments are expected to be ready for occupation in two months. The authority is planning to build another 2,500 such apartments in 27 acres of its land in Valagerahalli and develop it into a township with all amenities. According to the plan, the BDA will be constructing a school, a primary health care centre, a bus shelter and parks in the proposed township. These houses will be allotted only to the families that have an annual income of less than Rs 1 lakh. It may be recalled here that the Bangalore Development Authority had undertaken the project to construct 20,000 houses for the economically weaker sections in the city. The project was enhanced to construct 50,000 houses at the insistence of the chief minister some time ago.