IIT technology for mass housing

The 36th World Congress on Housing Science is scheduled to be held in Kolkata after 20 years, in association with International Association for Housing Science(IAHS) and organised by the department of architecture and regional planning, Indian Institue of Technology(IIT) Kharagpur with Ambuja Realty, Kolkata Municipal Corporation(KMC) and HIDCO as sponsors.

D Acharya, director of IIT Khargapur, said, "We want to share knowledge of experience of others in housing which today requires many aspects related to technology, ways of making houses more energy efficient and also liivng conditions better and the World Congress will be the best platform for addressing these issues." Gautam Deb, minister of housing and public health engineering of West Bengal, said, "According to average world population about 47 per cent live in urban areas, while in India this figure is 27 per cent."

However experts claim that around 40 per cent of the population will be urban dwellers within another 15 years and to accommodate this huge surplus population is a challenge, added Deb. Coordinated efforts alone could provide city facilities in rural areas to arrest rising migration to urban areas.

In order to tackle the crisis a greenfield project is coming up in New Town to accommodate people, added Deb.

A land procurement committee has been formed for this with representation from all political parties and panchayat parties, to suggest terms and conditions and suggested prices to be given to farmers.

About 50 per cent of the housing complexes will cater to the lower income group(LIG) and middle income group (MIG). Harsh Neotia, chairman and managing director of Ambuja Realty, said, "Housing is a national issue and the most pertinent question is to find affordable housing, which will be cost effective and environment friendly." The realty group will spend around Rs 5000 crore over the next five years in 10-12 projects which will be a combination of housing and residential projects in Chhattisgarh, Punjab and West Bengal.

A sum of Rs 1000 crore will be spent over the next seven years in the hospitality sector, with six hotel projects coming up in Kolkata, Lataguri, Raichak and Rajarhat.