On 28th May 2012 the Municipal Commissioner of the Sangli, Miraj and Kupwad Municipal Corporation (SMKMC) visited the Sanjay Nagar construction site in Miraj. During this site visit issues associated with the site were discussed. Several beneficiaries who were present on this visit, requested the commissioner to stick to the original DPR that has sanctioned an accessible terrace which they require for several activities like drying clothes, pickle and papad making, social functions, compost bio degradable waste etc.
At the behest of the SMKMC, the contractor’s design team modified the Shelter Associate’s design of providing an accessible terrace as per the approved DPR (sanctioned by the Government of India) and switched to an inaccessible sloping slab instead.
Shelter Associates have been providing detailed cost comparison to the Sangli, Miraj, & Kupwad Municipal Corporation (SMKMC) since April 2011 informing them of the reasons why the beneficiaries require an accessible terrace; proving that an accessible terrace is actually cheaper than a sloping slab; and requesting them to instruct the contractor to revert back to the approved design. In the review meeting on site, the beneficiaries reiterated that they wanted a terrace and not a sloping slab. Shelter Associates also brought it to the notice of the SMKMC that the GOI had sanctioned Rs. 15,000 per family as a full subsidy for common infrastructure like staircase, verandahs and parapet walls which was not part of the costing for the tenement.
