While Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Kalyan to inaugurate different infrastructure projects today, the launch of a housing scheme for 89,000 affordable homes by the City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO), under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), will be his priority.
The PM will digitally launch the housing scheme at 1.30 pm at the Vasudev Balwant Phadke Ground near Subhash Nagar, Kalyan-West, in Thane District in presence of Governor C Vidyasagar Rao and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and then will perform a bhoomi pujan of Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan Metro-V and Dahisar-Mira-Bhayandar Metro-IX corridors at 2.30 pm.
CIDCO has planned to construct 89,771 houses under PMAY at a cost of Rs 18,000 crore for Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and Lower Income Group (LIG) at Taloja, Kharghar, Kalamboli, Kharkopar and Jui Nagar in Navi Mumbai, and at Barwe, Khoni, Shirgaon, Shil (Bhandarli) and Gotheghar in Kalyan and Thane area.
Of these, 53,493 houses will be for the EWS and 36,288 houses will be for the LIG. Except for Shirgaon, all the buildings will be of 14 floors. The houses of 300 to 400 square foot area will be constructed and will be offered by an online lottery. The project is expected to be completed within three years. This is the biggest housing project undertaken by CIDCO till now, a CIDCO spokesperson said.
With a view to complete the target of 19.40 lakh houses in Maharashtra by 2022, the State Government has set up the Maharashtra Housing Development Corporation (MHDC) (Maha Housing) for which the CIDCO, MHADA, SRA, Shivashi Puvarvasan Prakalp Ltd, MMRDA, and Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT) will contribute Rs 100 crore each towards share capital. The GR to set up the MHDC was issued by the State Government on December 11, 2018.
Up till now Maharashtra has not completed a single house under PMAY in urban areas and has met less than 2 per cent of the annual target in rural areas. Of the 1.97 lakh houses to be built in cities till March, not a single house was completed and 30,000 were under construction. In rural areas, only 2,374 of the 1.5 lakh targeted houses were completed.
Maharashtra accounts for 19 per cent of the total homes to be built in rural areas and 6 per cent of the nationwide target for cities. Over two crore houses are to be constructed under PMAY till 2022 nationwide.
In the second leg, the PM will take part in ground breaking ceremony of Metro V and IX. The 24.5 km long Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan Metro-V corridor will be constructed by MMRDA at a cost of Rs 8417 crore and will have 17 elevated stations.
The 10 km long Dahisar-Mira-Bhayandar Metro-IX corridor will be constructed at a cost of Rs 6607 crore and will have 8 elevated stations. The project is expected to be constructed by 2022.
Meanwhile, the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) has undertaken several measures including removing several speed breakers and spraying liquid formulas on the Adharawadi dumping ground to eliminate any foul smell, since the venue of the PM's function is located opposite the dumping ground.
Security personnel have been appointed to man the ground in three shifts. By now KDMC has razed 127 illegal sheds, structures and handcarts along the Gandhare Road to Lal Chowki. After the function at Kalyan, the PM will head to Pune for the launch of Metro corridors in the neighbouring city.