Visakhapatnam: To provide affordable houses in third phase under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), the GVMC has already identified 100-acre land for the construction of 35,900 units in the city. It is in the process of finding another 100 acres to kick-start the project. In the first two phases of affordable housing project, the AP Township and Infrastructure Development Corporation (TIDCO) has started construction of 8,558 units and 16,280 units respectively in Satyanarayanapuram, Parawada, Raticheruvu, Aganampudi and China Mushidiwada.
The GVMC had taken up 8,000 units each in phase I and phase II of beneficiary-led individual housing category of PMAY. The construction of these units is in various phases of completion. A committee is verifying the applications of the beneficiaries, municipal commissioner M Harinarayanan said. More than one lakh applications have been received for the affordable housing project to the urban poor by 2022. The civic body is planning to identify more land in future to meet the huge demand in the city.
About the availability of water supply in the summer, Mr Harinarayanan said that the citizens need not worry as there are sufficient water levels in the reservoirs of the city. At present, 65 million gallons a day (MGD) of water was supplied in the entire GVMC limits, including 49 MGD for domestic usage. “We have called tenders for additional 27 tankers to supply water to 113 areas during the next three months from April 1 onwards. With an action plan of Rs 3 crore budget, we are well prepared to tackle the water shortage this summer,” he said.
If required the GVMC plans to pump water from Purushothapatnam Lift Irrigation Project (PLIS) on the Godavari to Yeleru reservoir which is a major source of water for households in the city. The water is still getting from Yeleru reservoir due to gravity, without the need of pumping. The municipal authority has recently released water from Thatipudi reservoir when Gosthani water levels have come down. The water levels at Meghadri Gedda and Raiwada are sustainable up to July and December respectively. The commissioner has urged the denizens to pay the property tax by the end of this month. Already, 82 per cent of the target of '183 crore has been paid by the tax payers for this financial year. However, it could collect only 50 per cent of the water tax dues at '26.25 crore up to now during this fiscal.
