1993 TN Housing Board scheme languishes due to lack of response

VELLORE: An urban development scheme of the TN Housing Board costing Rs 9.91 crore launched by the then chief minister J Jayalalithaa in 1993 at Dharapadavedu in Katpadi is languishing now due to limited public response, sources said.

The scheme aimed to sell 2,720 plots of various dimensions. The area was given a good layout with well-laid streets and all facilities, including water and power connections by constructing a huge overhead tank in the locality.

However, today the area languishes as there is no construction in the area with the OHT crumbling. The cement handrails attached to the stairway leading to the top of the OHT are gone while the supply pipes from the tank are rusted with the lower portion missing.

The OHT has a gaping hole at the bottom. There is also a GLR (ground level reservoir) nearby abutting which many black pipes have been stacked though no one knows for what. The streets are full of potholes and traversing even a minor stretch is cumbersome for vehicle users.

Sources said, “though the area was provided with electricity poles, they vanished some time ago when the Electricity Board removed them to meet needs elsewhere.”

The layout abuts the Kalinjur-Katpadi lakes, which are now being spruced up and will soon have a compound wall, sources averred.

When asked about this, Vellore housing unit EE Ganesan said, “the scheme is very much alive. Most of the plots were purchased by those in the IT field in Chennai as assets and hence they never constructed houses in them. We still have another 100 plots for sale under the MIG (middle income group) and LIG (low income group) categories. What the public do not understand is that land prices in the area will shoot up soon once the lake work is over. TNHB is willing to even waive five months interest in a bid to help those who purchased plots, but failed to pay the full amount.”

Vellore Corporation Town Planning officials said “the scheme was handed over to the local body, but due to isolation of the area even the few constructed houses lost doors and windows to anti-socials removing them.”

Asked about rumours of the soil being instable, the official said, “as it abuts the lake the soil is loose and hence a few who constructed houses with regular foundation found that it sank a little. Raft or pile foundation, which is costly, will ensure pucca construction, but buyers are unwilling to make the extra expenditure.”