Vadodara: It has been over a month since Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) prepared a formula to end the deadlock over resettlement of families ousted from Kalyannagar, but the proposal is yet to get a formal nod. VMC had proposed to give houses to the families in housing blocks that were coming up at the site where their dwellings were raised, but with some contribution from the families.VMC had razed over 1,900 dwellings in Kalyannagar in 2014. Some residents of the settlement were given houses in Sayajipura and Kalali schemes for urban poor. But local residents of Sayajipura and Kalali objected to this as the affected families from Kalyannagar were mostly from the minority community.In the wake of the situation and an agitation by Kalyannagar residents, VMC agreed that those who were not being allowed to settle in housing schemes at Sayajipura and Kalali would be given houses at Kalyannagar itself. Till the houses came up as many as 618 families were to be paid a rent of Rs3,000.But the resettlement got complicated when unauthorized extra work was conducted on Kalyannagar project and the contractor stopped work as his payments were stopped by VMC. The civic body initially insisted that that the beneficiaries accept houses at a scheme in Tandalja. Around 50 families have shifted to Tandalja, but the remaining wanted houses in Kalyannagar. VMC also started defaulting on rents frequently and the money was released only after representations and demonstrations.The beneficiaries in February agreed to pay around Rs4.2lakh for the houses and the civic body was to contribute around Rs1.3lakh for each house to ensure that the scheme is completed. VMC will be arranging for a loan for the beneficiaries for their contribution. An extra expense of around Rs7.5crore was expected to be made at VMC’s end for the project.Despite over a month having passed with the beneficiaries agreeing to the formula, the civic body is yet to take up the issue formally in its standing committee. Activist professor J S Bandukwala has also taken up the issue with the civic body.Civic body sources said a proposal had been prepared and discussed with the elected wing. “It will now be put up before the standing committee for a formal nod,” said an official.

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