Team Herald
PANJIM: Goa Housing Board aims to construct nearly 25,000 to 30,000 affordable houses for weaker and middle class section of Goans, using precast technology – the first of its kind experiment in the State – which avoids the hassle of masons placing bricks and erecting walls of concrete at construction sites.
Goa has been selected for the launch of pilot project by the Central Government under the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), who through the Governance and Accelerated Livelihoods (GOALS) project, will help promote affordable housing for the urban-rural poor.
Compared to the traditional cast-in-situ, precast uses less cement, water, steel, and labour and hence is considered in affordable housing projects. Most of the work is transferred from the site to a safe and controlled, automated factory environment which results in improved productivity and minimal logistics.
Housing Board will write to panchayats and municipalities to conduct a census and identify the requirement of housing for people in their areas.
Housing Minister Jayesh Salgaoncar, refusing to disclose details of the project, said a rough estimate shows 2500 houses are required in urban areas and another 1000 in rural areas. “We are also including the middle class government servant, who has been staying in quarters for years and is now used to the city
environment,” he said.
“Approximately, the requirement could be around 25,000-30,000 houses,” he said adding, “We have enough land in Housing Board areas admeasuring between 40,000 sq mtrs to two lakh sq mtrs.”
Providing affordable housing will be the pilot project under UNDP. “The same would be replicated in the rest of the country to provide housing to all by 2022,” the Minister stated.
Stating that in a bid to ensure less cost, strong and quick housing, the government will adopt precast technology, which is more reliable and resistant to natural calamities. “Precast is a modular building system based on ready-made, factory-manufactured components and intelligent connections. It provides a way to design and construct a sufficient number of suitable homes to meet the needs of city dwellers in a reasonable time-frame and at a reasonable cost. Within four days one floor can be constructed,” Salgaoncar said.
Spelling about the scheme further, the Minister said that government may consider concession or subsidise one room of the flat, if the family shifts with their aged parents. “The idea is in the mind and we need to work on it,” he stated.
