The Thiruvananthapuram Corporation has begun the process of retaking possession of flats built for economically backward families which have either been rented out to third parties or have remained unoccupied even years after they were handed over to beneficiaries.
According to officials in the Corporation’s housing wing, 15 flats have been taken over until now and reallocated to families identified as landless and homeless under the State government’s project to uplift extremely poor families.
Last week, it was to one such unoccupied flat that the Corporation had retaken possession of that the authorities shifted a four-member family found to be living in a dilapidated one room shed at Muttathara.
Survey and follow-up action
Officials said the Corporation had an year ago begun a survey to check whether the flats which were provided under various schemes for economically backward families are being occupied by the original beneficiaries to whom they were provided. As many as 60 flats were found to be either vacant or rented out to third parties. These were mainly in the residential complex built over a decade ago under the Basic Services for Urban Poor (BSUP) project at Kalladimukham and another under the same project which was completed more recently at Poonkulam.
