HIDCO to conduct lottery of plots by end of June

Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) will conduct a lottery for four days in the third week of June to allot 75 plots to owners to set up individual homes and housing complexes.

The lottery is likely to be held for four days either from June 20 or June 21. In the first two days, the lottery will be held in New Town and the other two days it will be held in Nazrul Mancha. Around 4,600 people have applied for the plots. Firhad Hakim, state Urban Development minister inaugurated opening of application on January 28. It continued till April 30. HIDCO is now going through the documents that have been deposited by the applicants.

Of the 75 plots, 58 have been earmarked for individual houses and the remaining 17 for housing complexes. Of these 58 plots, 25 are meant for people belonging to the Middle Income Group (MIG) while the remaining 33 plots are meant for those belonging to the Higher Income Group (HIG). The sizes of the plots for individual houses vary anything between 2.5 cottah and 3.5 cottah and those for housing complexes vary from 4.5 cottah to 5.5 cottah.

The plots are situated close to Owl More (Pyacha More) and HIDCO has put up boards so that applicants can see the land. The plots are situated close to ECO Park. New Town is coming up very fast as a commercial, cultural and residential hub because of the facilities that are available. Every area has a children's park and as it is a green city, the green cover has been increased and is kept intact. More trees are being planted too. There is a park for senior citizens called Swapno Bhor. There is a two-storeyed building that houses a library, an auditorium and a coffee shop for senior citizens. The lottery system to allot plots for individual homes and housing complexes is absolutely transparent. Earlier, allegations of nepotism had been made against the first chairman of HIDCO, Gautam Deb, the housing minister during the erstwhile Left Front government over allotment of plots. There was no advertisement in newspapers and plots were distributed clandestinely. Even the prices at which plots had been distributed were kept a secret.

After coming to power in 2011, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee abolished the chairman's quota and posted a senior bureaucrat Debashis Sen in the rank of the additional chief secretary as the chairman of HIDCO to maintain transparency.