Kolkata: Mayor Firhad Hakim handed over keys to the slum-dwellers at the Mayer Bari project site in North Kolkata on Tuesday.
The project to set up houses
for the slum-dwellers was taken
up by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) following an initia-
tive by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Trinamool Congress MP Mala Roy, minister of state for Women and Child Development and Social Welfare Shashi Panja and Swapan Samaddar were present at the function.
Swami Bodhsaranandaji, assistant general secretary, Ramakrishna Math and Mission and Swami Nityamuktananda, president, Mayer Bari, were also present.
Hakim said Rs 3 crore was initially provided for the project by the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) in 2010, but the fund could not be utilised. Later, Mamata Banerjee took the initiative to rehabilitate the slum-dwellers who stayed in the vicinity of Mayer Bari in 2012.
The estimated cost of the project is Rs 30 crore. The total area on which the proposed buildings will come up is 4.5 bigha. A total of 15 blocks will be constructed for the people coming from economically challenged backgrounds.
A total of 300 dwelling units will be set up. A community centre will come up on a 5,189 square feet area. The total area of the market is 999 square feet.
Hakim handed over keys to the residents who will occupy flats between blocks A and D. Steps have been taken to complete the houses at the earliest.
Mayer Bari, the house where Ma Sarada Devi had lived till her death in 1920, is visited by lakhs of visitors all over the globe. The KMC will now take up a beautification programme for the area.