Kerala - Kochi   

Contractors refuse to take up housing projects for the poor

KOCHI: As there are no takers for construction contracts for the housing projects meant for the poor in the city, the Kochi Corporation is pinning its hope on some good Samaritans for rehabilitating the poor.

The Basic Services for Urban Poor project of the Kochi Corporation has come a cropper following the reluctance of the contractors and builders to take up the construction under the scheme.

It is the cost escalation of construction materials that is preventing the contractors from taking up the project for which the funds have been released from the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban renewal Mission (JNNURM).

All the agencies the Corporation had approached cited cost escalation a major problem. They fear that they will sustain losses if they construct the apartments as per the rates fixed for the project, said Mayor Mercy Williams.

The Corporation is looking for some socially committed builders who are willing to bear the additional expense that they may incur for the project as their contribution to society, Ms. Williams said.

The project would serve as a symbol of their philanthropic mind. They can also gain on the publicity front, she said. There is another option for builders to sponsor one or two individual units, she added.

The Corporation project was to construct around 100 housing units to rehabilitate the evictees from the banks of the Perandoor canal and also some residents of the slums in West Kochi. The evictees, who have been lodged in a hotel building owned by the Kochi Corporation, in Ernakulam North, have threatened to go in for an agitation if the civic authorities fail to rehabilitate them.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

‘Pariraksha’ for mother, child
Gynaecology meet from April 4
Film fete in Kochi
Government failed farmers: KCBC
Accused in fake note case held
Kannur: State files appeal
Healthcare institutions come up with charter of demands
Jaundice: prevention activities stepped up
Residents associations seek development scheme
Rs.3 crore allotted for land acquisition
Chellanam fishing harbour work to begin on March 24
Contractors refuse to take up housing projects for the poor
Boat operators demand inquiry
Laboratory has no water
Paddy field conversion on at a hectic pace
Seeking to know the brain
FACT on track for a good year
e-krishi initiative in Ernakulam by month-end
‘Address women’s issues through social change’

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu