Firhad Hakim inaugurates Snehodiya
Kolkata: State Urban Development minister Firhad Hakim inaugurated Snehodiya, the first state of the art space for senior citizens in New Town on Tuesday evening.
Addressing the gathering, he said the residents will get all the modern facilities including hydrotherapy which will keep them fit at Snehodiya. He thanked Debashis Sen, chairman, Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) for conceiving such an idea and then implementing it.
Snehodiya, a Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation project is a first-of-its-kind venture by the state government. Mackintosh Burn has constructed the building located just opposite Swapno Bhor — the senior citizen's park. In fact, the idea of the senior citizens' living space was conceived from the success and popularity of Swapno Bhor.
It has already had its first occupant with the Ghosh couple checking in a few days ago.
Snehodiya re-interprets the nostalgia of the residents in a modern high-rise design, while retaining its fundamental Bengali essence of rooms built around a courtyard. Each suite is air-conditioned, furnished and cable TV connection. Attendants on each floor, nurses attached to ground floor medical unit are available. Professional housekeeping including laundry machine services at available on ground floor. A guest house with six rooms is ready.
Snehodiya has 57 double bedrooms and 90 single bedrooms. It has been decided that 75 percent of the price paid on entry will be refunded to the occupants or their heirs in case of vacancy. Most remarkably, there is an activity centre designed to offer space for teaching classes by residents who opt to do so for children from the EWS families.
A stationery general purpose shop near the gate of Snehodiya was opened on Saturday. An SBI ATM and a medicine shop will be opened shortly.
It may be mentioned that Swapna Bhor now has more than 700 members and there is a freeze on new members (except those from Snehodiya, whose residents are given opportunity to be members automatically) because the community building rooms are not large enough to accommodate more members.
