Patna, Aug. 22: Bihar State Housing Board (BSHB) may soon demolish its old and dilapidated apartments in Lohianagar and Bahadurpur housing colonies and replace them with ultra modern flats. The board is in the final stages of framing a set of guidelines for the settlement of the proposed flats titled New Plots Settlement Scheme, 2011.

BSHB sources said the settlement scheme is at present in the final stages and would be sent to the board for approval shortly. The approval would be followed by an official notification by the state urban development and housing department.

At present, there are around 1,000 rental flats in Lohianagar Housing Board Colony. Under the proposed scheme, the rundown buildings are supposed to make way for new flats. In place of the demolished buildings, 3,000 new flats are proposed for construction. Sources said the 900 authorised tenants present at Lohiya Nagar may be sold one new flat each at the current market prices.

The remaining unauthorised occupants/encroachers might be given preference for purchase of new dwellings at Lohianagar. According to the proposed scheme, if they deny purchasing the new flats at the current market prices, they would be evicted forcefully. The remaining flats would be allotted by BSHB.

Apart from Lohianagar, majority of the buildings at Bahadurpur Housing Board Colony is also in a dilapidated condition. The remaining buildings are constructed in a haphazard manner, leaving a large chunk of unutilised land in the colony. Presently, there are around 2,000 flats, including economic weaker sections, lower income group, middle income group, higher income group flats at Bahadurpur Housing Board Colony, spread across eight sectors.

According to sources, the board is presently making a survey of the flats at Bahadurpur to ascertain their physical condition.

Those found dangerous for occupation would be demolished under the proposed scheme.

Later, BSHB would construct 3,500 new dwellings at Bahadurpur Housing Colony. According to sources, BSHB is also considering payment for the rent of the original and legitimate allottees during their relocation at the time of the construction of new dwellings at Bahadurpur.

Later, such rental expenses would be added to the cost of the new dwellings.

Moreover, all the new buildings to be constructed by the housing board would be spacious and have adequate green cover.

The board had recently demolished one of its buildings in Sector-3 of Bahadurpur Colony, which had been declared dangerous for occupation. On July 21 last year, another four-storeyed building in the same sector had collapsed.

Residents find it risky to live in the existing houses. “The existing houses are in a dilapidated condition. Plaster falls off the walls frequently. It is high time that such flats are replaced with safe dwellings,” said Avinash Kumar, a resident of Sector 3 of Bahadurpur Housing Colony.

Scheme: New Plots Settlement Scheme, 2011
Location Existing flats Proposed flats
Lohianagar Around 1000 rental flats 3,000
Bahadurpur About 2000 leased-out flats 3,500