A group of 161 housing units constructed years ago for the purpose of providing low cost accommodation for the poor, have remained largely unoccupied at Shamal Kunta area of Sanathnagar due to a longstanding dispute.
Very close to the Sundar Nagar locality, the units built in two blocks under the VAMBAY (Valmiki Ambedkar Awaas Yojna) housing scheme, were to accommodate the slum population of Shamal Kunta, as per the agreement reached by government authorities and the land owner way back in 2002-03.
Around 1.5 acre of private land in the area, part of which was in the Full Tank Level of the Shamalkunta lake was settled by urban poor in early 1990s, when the leader of the underdog P.Janardhan Reddy was alive. The land owner Ramakanth Inani entered an agreement with the government, so that around 1750 square yards would be donated for the poor people’s housing, into which the slum dwellers may be shifted to free the remaining parcel of land.
Construction took a very long time due to a court case with regard to the quality of the work, and by the time the houses were complete, nobody was willing to shift.
“Quality of the construction was poor and none of us wants to shift to the houses. The blocks do not even have power connection. We want the government to build two bedroom housing units in the remaining land,” said Shekhar, a resident of the slum.
Mr. Inani alleges that the slum dwellers were instigated by political honchos not to vacate the land, with the promise that two bedroom housing would be provided. Future of the two blocks of VAMBAY, however, remains uncertain.
