Corp criticized for delay in Rajaji Nagar housing scheme, Real Estate News, ET Real Estate

Thiruvananthapuram: Repeated failure of the Municipal Corporation to ensure obstruction-free sites for construction has again hit the progress of the housing scheme under the Smart City project. Rajaji Nagar,

In the latest board meeting, it was mentioned that the work could not be resumed as the residents had not yet vacated the site. Mayor Arya Rajendran told the meeting that the residents have not vacated the site due to the delay in providing temporary accommodation. In the meeting, the mayor assured that a barrier-free site would be made available by January 2023.

Smart City Thiruvananthapuram Limited (sctl) had earlier decided to terminate the current contract entered into with the firm that won the tender in 2020 and take steps for re-tendering.

It was specifically directed that the works would be retendered in a phased manner and only after obtaining an encumbrance free site. The municipal corporation had failed to ensure an obstruction-free site in the last two years despite a series of meetings held to clear the impasse. The civic body could not come to an agreement with the residents who put up strong resistance. In the board meeting held in September, it was decided to complete the project in a phased manner.

The awardee had demanded an additional amount of Rs 9.74 crore to compensate the loss suffered by the firm due to delay in executing the project. It was decided that the contract should be terminated without invoking the terms of risk and cost. The SCTL had also directed the Municipal Corporation to take steps to relocate the residents and hand over the site to them.

Administrative approval of Rs 60.8 crore was given for the residential project in Rajaji Nagar. The work was awarded to the contractor in 2020 and the tentative date of completion was September 2022. It was mentioned in the Board meeting recently that SCTL failed to hand over the sites to the contractors as the corporation was unable to shift the occupants to other places due to resistance. from the residents.

SCTL had prepared a master plan considering the entire 12.6 acres in the settlement, addressing all the prevailing issues in the area. The development of the green area is intended to be implemented in three phases. Phase-I is being developed on 2.81 acres of land accommodating 248 housing units, eight livelihood centres, a community hall and lush green open spaces for recreation.