Real Estate: Focus In Sustainable Housing, Urges Additional Secretary, Ministry of Housing And Urban Affairs

D. Thara, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, recently asked the real estate industry to completely gear up to meet housing-related challenges for the next five years by revisiting their old practices and preparing to invest in rain harvesting and creating play spaces for children in their housing complexes. Additionally, she emphasised provisioning for cool pathways powered by solar energy.

Addressing the third NAREDCO Mahi convention, she also urged the real estate and housing industry to be prepared for constructing affordable housing as per the envisioned practices of the new NDA Government led by Prime Minister Modi. In future housing projects, the real estate sector would need to create walkable spaces and provision for parks, school-ways, and pathways powered by solar energy. Additionally, builders would need to incorporate ample rain harvesting and water resource management within the project site, rather than depending on water supplies from neighbouring locations, she added.

The Additional Secretary was also of the view that investment in rain harvesting projects should be a core infrastructure plan for the private sector in housing complexes, particularly in the affordable housing sector. Basic amenities such as plenty of space for children's parks and safe walkways would be essential to counter the challenges of obesity, as present housing complexes hardly provide any space for walks, resulting in rising obesity among children living in such complexes.

Dr. Ananta Singh Raghuvanshi, President, NAREDCO Mahi, in her welcome speech, shared that her association has been doing its best to promote the NAREDCO association and its Mahi branch throughout the country. She emphasised that rewarding women with versatile temperaments has continued to contribute to the growth of NAREDCO in general and, in particular, in making suggestions to the government for bringing about changes in policies for the real estate sector.

Rajan Bandelkar, Vice Chairman, NAREDCO, also appreciated the emphasis of the new government to construct additional 3 crore housing units in the affordable housing sector pointing out that it would be another landmark to registering higher growth not only in the Indian real estate sector but also in general to realise the ambition of Prime Minister Modi to making India the third largest economy in the next few years.