Bhubaneswar, May 21: The housing and urban development department has demarcated the territories of the civic body and the urban development agency for easier and faster implementation of upcoming affordable housing projects in and around the city.

According to the plan, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) will take care of such projects within its territory, while the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) will plan affordable housing projects only outside the BMC area. Both the agencies have a mutual administrative power over 186 square kilometres in the city.

"The civic body and BDA have joint jurisdiction over 186 square kilometres of the total area of the city. However, we also take care of surrounding villages such as Jatni, Patrapada, Aiginia and Andharua. If we divide our projects in this manner, it will make their execution easy," said an official of the housing and urban development department.

The department also plans to come up with a standard operating procedure for faster and easier execution of various activities - such as selection of beneficiaries, formation of housing societies and allotment of dwelling units.

The International Finance Corporation, a wing of World Bank, has agreed to provide technical assistance to the BDA and the BMC for this purpose.

"Selection of beneficiaries and allotment of houses in the completed project is a complicated process. But, we should ensure that the process remains error-free. An agency will be selected for this job. The Odisha Urban Housing Mission will help in choosing the agency," said the official.

At present, the BDA and the BMC are jointly constructing two affordable housing projects - at Chandrasekharpur and Satya Nagar. The Chandraskeharpur project will have 1,250 and 2,600 houses respectively in two units, while the project at Satya Nagar will have 1,300 affordable houses.

The projects will be executed under various schemes, such as Housing for All, Abas Yojana of the state government, the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and the Rajiv Awas Yojana.

"We are in the process of finalising the tenders for the project. We have also planned to construct more such houses for the urban poor at various other locations," said mayor Ananta Narayan Jena.

Among other steps taken by the department to streamline execution of various affordable housing projects, it has been decided that Jones Lang LaSalle India, a multi-national real estate management company, will be engaged for handling financial transactions during the tendering and implementation process. A nodal officer will also be selected to ensure co-ordination among various agencies. The housing projects to be executed in public-private partnership mode will mainly accommodate people from lower-middle and middle classes.

Patia resident Pratik Maharana said the city is growing fast and so is the population. "With the expansion and development of the city, the population of the urban poor is also growing day by day. Most of them do not have access to quality living. Such affordable houses will be a boon for the city's poor," said Maharana, a private sector employee.