Over 4,000 apply for plots to be distributed by HIDCO in New Town

Over 4,000 have applied for 75 plots which will be distributed by the Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) in New Town.

The heavy turnout clearly indicates that New Town is fast coming up as a destination for setting up houses because of the facilities and infrastructure.

The online application for the plots began on January 28 in presence of the state Urban Development minister Firhad Hakim. The last day of filing application was April 30. It was found that 861 people had paid the registration fee for housing cooperatives and another 3,533 people have paid registration fee for individual plots taking the total to 4,394 persons. HIDCO is now scrutinising the documents and a lottery is likely to be held in June to select the lucky applicants.

After nearly a decade the HIDCO will be distributing plots among individuals and housing cooperatives. The decision was passed in a Cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

The HIDCO will distribute 100 plots out of which, lottery was held for 75 plots. Of these, 58 plots will be distributed among individuals to set up their houses and the remaining 17 plots will be meant for housing complexes. Of the 58 plots, 25 are meant for those belonging to middle income group (MIG) while another 33 will be for the higher income group (HIG). The area of the plots varies between 2.5 cottah and 5 cottah. Twenty five plots will be e auctioned.

The plots are situated near Owl more. HIDCO put up boards so that interested persons could identify the area and see the infrastructure before booking. The booking process was absolutely transparent. HIDCO had opened kiosks in its office in New Town to help those who could not do online booking.

It may be mentioned that there were several allegations over distribution of plots in New Town during the Left regime. Plots were given to people from the chairman's quota without advertisement. Nobody knew at what price they were being given. Gautam Deb, the then Housing minister was the chairman of HIDCO. As a matter of fact, he was the person responsible for setting up the new township.

After coming to power in 2011, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee abolished the chairman's quota and made an IAS officer Debashis Sen the chairman of HIDCO.

Extensive development work started since 2011. Now, steps are being taken to convert New Town into a green city. Eco Park, the only urban park in India, has received a global tag when it celebrated the World Parks Week. HIDCO has taken steps to justify its slogan: "There is never a dull moment in New Town. Here you can keep expecting the unexpected."