Berhampur: Lack of affordable housing has hit the denizens hard in Silk City, the principal business hub in Ganjam district.
There is a wide gap between housing demand and supply in the city which has sparked resentment among the residents. Berhampur has seen a rise in population over the years. 2021 census is yet to be conducted but private sources estimate the population in Berhampur to be around five lakh.
People from rural areas throng the city due to the presence of major educational institutions. The overcrowding in Berhampur has become a pressing concern, leading to a chronic problem of housing shortage for urban dwellers. The government has yet to take any step in this regard.
Sources from Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC) said holding tax is being collected from 80,000 households. Tenants belonging to various categories are having a harrowing time as house owners are charging rents at their whims. The ruling BJP had assured to work for poor and middle-class people during poll campaign.
Therefore residents hope that the new state government will give priority to resolving the housing problems. Berhampur Regional Improvement Trust (BRIT) was formed during the Congress government in 1980 with an aim to plan and facilitate the orderly growth of the urban and suburban areas in the city.
Later, the BRIT was upgraded into the Berhampur Development Authority (BeDA), July 26, 1993. The BRIT under the state Housing and Urban Development Department decided to resolve the housing issues affecting the denizens due to the influx of more and more people from rural areas. As per the plan, it constructed two housing complexes at Gajapati Nagar and Nilakantha Nagar in the city.
Beneficiaries belonging to economically weaker sections of society (EWS), MIG (Middle Income Group) and HIG (Higher Income Group) were decided through a lottery conducted for the purpose.
However, the BRIT handed over houses at the Nilakantheswar complex in half-built conditions to the beneficiaries. Later, the beneficiaries completed the construction of the houses on their own and took possession. Soon, the plan for the construction of housing complexes was stopped in the Silk City as the Janata Dal government led by Biju Patnaik in 1990 dissolved the BRIT and formed the BeDA in its place in 1993.
The BeDA soon took steps for the construction of a housing complex at Vivek Vihar near Ambapua in the city. The proposal received an overwhelming response from the denizens as people were eager to get a roof over their heads. People applied to get a house and deposited advance money for it.
The proposed housing complex soon ran into controversy as applicants failed to get a house even after years together. They staged several agitations but without any success as the controversy surrounding the Vivek Vihar Housing Complex is yet to abate.
Meanwhile, 35 years have passed since the formation of BeDA but it has completely closed its eyes towards the construction of new houses for the denizens. BJD leaders Kailash Rana, Sarat Ranjan Patnaik have chaired BeDA for brief periods while the government officials remained as the chairpersons for majority of time.
Currently, the District Collector is the chairman of BeDA while the BeMC Commissioner is its vice-chairman. The BeDA is receiving crores in grants for the implementation of various developmental schemes and projects in the city but it has completely closed its eyes towards the construction of a new housing complex for the denizens.
Meanwhile, the political equation in Berhampur has changed after two decades. The BJP candidates have been elected as the Lok Sabha MP and Berhampur MLA. Therefore, people are demanding their intervention to resolve the housing problem in the city.
PNN