PESHAWAR, April 6: The NWFP housing department has finalised plans for housing colonies for government employees and other homeless people in eight districts of the province.
An official told Dawn on Friday that the department had engaged a private consultant for preparing a development plan for setting up township schemes in eight districts, following which PC-I would be forwarded to the government for allocation of funds.
He said that the government’s initiative was in line with the National Housing Policy 2001, devised by the ministry of housing to bridge gap between demand and supply of housing units in the country.
The main pillars of the policy are to create affordability for the middle and low income groups, ensure housing development for poor and rural people.
According to the 1998 census, the total number of housing units, at the national level, was 19.3 million, of which 67.7 per cent are located in rural areas and 32.3 per cent in urban areas.
The housing backlog, as per the census, was 4.3 million units, which has increased substantially over the years.
The annual additional requirement was estimated around 570,000 housing units, whereas the annual production was estimated around 300,000 housing units resulting in a recurring backlog of 270,000 units annually.
In the NWFP backlog of housing units was building at an average of 40,000 units annually, the official said.
According to him, the Karachi-based consultant hired by the housing department has been given the mandate of identifying three suitable sites in each eight district, where such housing colonies could be established within the existing Terms of References (TOR) of the department.
The consultant, the official maintained, has been given three months for completion of his report following which the department would seek funding the projects’ implementation.
The official said that the first priority of the project would be government servants because the government intends to provide a house to each official on retirement from service.
As per the government policy, officials below grade 17 would be given the choice to opt for five Marlas and below housing units to be constructed by the housing department.