Online booking for New Town plots gets tremendous response

An overwhelming response has been received from prospective buyers for residential plots in New Town.

Hundreds of people have been made inquiries at the Help Desk, set up by Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO). On an average, 40 to 50 people are filling online applications.

The applications will be taken till April 30, following which a lottery will be held. 100 plots, measuring anything between 2.5 cottah and 5 cottah will be sold. 25 plots will be reserved for high income group (HIG) category and will be auctioned.

In the first page of the online document, the quoted price will be mentioned. The remaining 75 plots will be distributed among middle income group (MIG) and lower income group (LIG) categories.

It is the first time since the Trinamool Congress government took over in 2011 that plots will be sold online to people. There will be no chairman's quota and the lottery will be transparent.

When HIDCO was newly-formed, allegations of corruption and nepotism had surfaced against its former Chairman and then state Housing minister Gautam Deb. After coming to power, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee made senior bureaucrat Debashis Sen the chairman of HIDCO and the chairman's quota was abolished.

HIDCO opened a Help Desk at HIDCO Bhavan in New Town to assist those who fill up the online forms for the proposed plots. There are six telephone lines to answer the queries of the proposed buyers. The plots are situated close to the Owl More.

Boards have been put up so that buyers can see the plots before making online booking. HIDCO have opened a pavilion at this year's Kolkata Book Fair, where many people showed interest to apply for the plots. HIDCO officials feel booking will pick up in the middle of February and March.

New Town, over the years, has come up as an ideal destination for making both houses and offices. It is well-connected and for its residents there are children's parks, senior citizen's park for spending leisure time.

It is also coming up as a major tourist destination and hub for cultural activities.