Scavengers Colony to get a facelift

Tirupati: The proposed development of the Scavengers Colony in the city gathered momentum with the State government on Monday issuing orders for according permission to Andhra Pradesh Township and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (APTIDCO) to take forward the proposal on PPP model to provide housing to the existing slum dwellers in the colony.

Accordingly, the government appointed the Managing Director of APTIDCO, Vijayawada as a nodal agency for the re-development of the Scavengers Colony here under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) or Housing for All scheme.

The State government also appointed the Andhra Pradesh Urban Infrastructure Asset Management Limited (APUIAML), Vijayawada as project development and management consultant and transaction advisor to assist the APTIDCO in project development structuring, selection of developer through transparent bidding process and also providing end-to-end support for the re-development of Scavengers Colony.

The government further said in the order GO MS No 32 dated 16.01.2017 of Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD) that the proposal for the redevelopment of the colony was taken up as part of the central and State government objective to provide houses for all its citizen and also to make the cities slum free under PMAY scheme.

In Tirupati city, about 30 percent of population lives in slums and there are about 26,000 households and about 38 notified and 4 non-notified slums in the city occupying about 6.75 sq.km in aggregate, according to the government information in the order.

As part of this proposal, construction of 328 dwelling units for the existing dwellers in a part of the said site (Scavenger Colony) in lieu of development right plus a premium for the rest of the land as per an approved master plan.

The project site would be divided into two parts, viz. ‘Redevelopment Area and Balance Area’. The existing slum dwellers will be rehabilitated in the redevelopment area with pucca houses and all associated facilities and amenities.

The balance area will be developed by the private developer for recouping the development costs of the redeveloped area i.e. providing housing with all facilities.

It is pertinent to note that the Scavengers Colony though located in the heart of city, sheltering about 300 families mostly poor tribal working as health workers in the municipal corporation sans even proper basic facilities despite the city’s rapid development as a world famous pilgrim centre, in the last 50 years.