HIDCO's plot allotments get huge response, 566 applications till date

Allotment of plots by the Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) to construct individual houses and housing cooperatives has received overwhelming response with more than 500 applicants registering their names so far.

The applications will be received till March 31. Thenafter, HIDCO will conduct a lottery to select the allottees. Firhad Hakim, state minister for Urban Development, had inaugurated the online booking on January 28.

HIDCO is allotting plots to individuals and for housing cooperatives almost after a decade. As many as 75 plots will be distributed of which 58 plots will be for individual houses and 17 for housing cooperatives. Of the 58 individual plots, 25 of them are meant for those belonging to middle income groups (MIG) while another 33 are for those belonging to the higher income groups (HIG). The areas of the individual plots vary from 3.5 cottah to 5.5 cottah while the housing cooperatives will come up on 6 cottah lands.

Senior HIDCO officials said so far, 566 applications have been received for the plots. There are 45 applications for the individual plots and 521 applications for housing cooperatives. The lottery will be held in April. The plots are situated near the Owl More known as Pecha More in HIDCO parlance and are situated off the Eco Park.

It may be mentioned that gross irregularities had been alleged over allotment of plots under the chairman's quota in the Left Front regime. HIDCO was set up in the mid 1990s to develop New Town.

The Housing minister in the Left Front regime Goutam Deb was the chairman and its first managing director was Sanjay Mitra who later became the Chief Secretary. After coming to power in 2011, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee took several steps to bring transparency in the administration of HIDCO. The chairman's quota was abolished and Debashis Sen, a senior bureaucrat, was appointed its chairman.

After Mamata Banerjee took over in 2011, major changes have taken place in New Town. Eco Park has come up as the most important tourist site in the city with a footfall reaching a staggering 56 lakh. Mother's Wax Museum is a star attraction along with Rabindra Tirtha and Nazrul Tirtha with two important cultural hubs.

The convention centre which is coming up is the biggest of its kind in eastern India. Communication has improved a lot and now and New Town has become an ideal place to live in.