The Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Housing Cell has finished building 3,002 houses of the Behn Benazir Basti project so far, while the remaining 838 houses would be completed at different stages, participants of a meeting held on Tuesday at the Chief Minister’s House to review the scheme were informed.
The meeting was presided over by Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah. It was attended by Pakistan People’s Party’s MNA Mir Munawar Ali Talpur, Sindh Housing Agha Taimoor Khan, Mirpurkhas Division Commissioner Ghulam Hussain Memon and Shaheed Benazir Housing Cell Chairman Manzar Abbas.
The chief minister stressed the need for accelerating the scheme’s pace of work. “Efforts should be made to construct the houses on war-footing basis in all districts of province, particularly in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh,” he added.
He said that that following the heavy rains in the province, millions of families became homeless and the government has decided to provide them with immediate housing facilities.
He directed the Shaheed Benazir Housing Cell chairman to coordinate with the divisional commissioners of the rain-hit areas and compile data on homeless families so that a report can be furnished for further taking appropriate action.
Shah also instructed the Mirpurkhas commissioner to coordinate with the cell in the latter’s efforts to gather the details on the affected families the district.
The provincial chief executive said that the houses should be constructed in the shape of clusters of around 10 to 15 units with a common bathing area.
MNA Mir Munawar Ali Talpur said more than 0.9 million families have been affected by the recent rains in Mirpurkhas and they are in immediate need of housing.
Sindh Housing Minister Agha Taimoor Khan said if single room houses are provided in the rain-affected areas of Sindh, Rs 140,000 would be required for each house.
