Angamaly, the northern gateway to Kochi, is situated 33 km north of Ernakulam District.  Angamaly became a municipality in 1978 and is also a legislative assembly constituency in Ernakulam District.  The CBD area of the town is spread around the intersection of National Highway 544 (previously NH 47) and the Main Central road (MC Road) which connects Angamaly to the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. Municipal area comprises of 20.40 sq.km and the population as per 2011 SECC is 32476. The municipal area is divided into 30 wards for administrative purpose.  Angamaly is one of the fastest growing towns in Kerala, thanks to the proximity of international airport, the presence of the railway station and its strategic location at the convergence of two major roads.  People living in nearby panchayats depend on Angamaly for higher order shopping and services, which help to develop the town to a business hub. St.George Basilica, Angamaly, the new Catholic Church built at the heart of the town is regarded as the biggest of its kind in India.

               The town is located at 10.2 ◦ N and 76.4 ◦ E and has an average elevation of 31 meters above MSL.  Major portion of the town is still under agricultural use and irrigation facilities are available in the town.  Due consideration has to be given for agriculture and allied activities while ensuring balanced growth of urban and rural activities.  The town has grown as a trade and service centre and still trade and commerce is the major activity of the town.

               The town, which is in transition stage, is facing problems associated with change of character from rural to urban.  Many of the physical and social infrastructure facilities are inadequate or absent.  Efforts are to be made to provide adequate infrastructure as per standards.  In addition to the proximity of Cochin international airport, a number of educational and medical institutions are also functioning in the town.  These attract lot of people from the influential area and the needs of the floating population have to be considered.

               Angamaly town is a part of Kochi urban agglomeration as per census 2001 and 2011.  It is a second order settlement in Ernakulam district and has therefore catered to the requirements of a wider service area.  As per the future urban profile of the state, delineated in the state urbanization report for 2021, Angamaly forms part of the delineated urban cluster of Kochi.  Also, as per the delineated urban profile for 2031, Angamaly forms part of the delineated urban corridor of ‘Alappuzha- Ernakulam, Thrissur-Palakkad’.  It is thus evident that the town is a part of thriving urban development corridor of the state.  Planned development of the town shall therefore be within this regional frame work.

     Identifying the importance and urgency of planned development of our urban centres, Government of Kerala has introduced a state plan scheme for preparation of master plans for municipalities in the year 2009-2010.  Angamaly town is one of the 32 towns included in this scheme in the first phase.

population

Angamaly municipal town falls in blocks 11 and 12 of Angamaly village.  The Extent of the town on physical verification is 20.40 sq.km.  As per census records, the area of the town is 28.40 sq.km.  On discussion with the revenue authority, it is arrived that the area of the town is 20.40 sq.km.  Municipal authority convinced with the area of 20.40 sq.km since the area of town is 20.45 sq.km on physical verification. Population of the town as per 2011 SECC is 32476.  There are 30 municipal wards in the town. 

Population projection

As per the CPHEEO guide lines any projects shall be normally designed to meet the requirements over a thirty year period.  This generally applies to the water supply and sewerage schemes where the quantities /flows are required to be estimated for the future design horizon.  For storm water drainage project, the above projections may not be of use apart from assessing the probable users that are benefited from the project both for present and future period.

Population density

Angamaly Municipality presently has 30 wards. The ward wise population for different horizons has been projected based on the ward population in 2011 and projected total population for the design horizon of 2048 for the city. 

HOUSING PROFILE OF ANGAMALY MUNICIPALITY IN DETAIL

Homeless or houseless are defined as- those who live in “the open or roadside, pavements, in hume-pipes, under fly-overs and staircases, or in the open in places of worship, mandaps, railway platforms etc.”

In India, urban poverty is “so real” with millions of homeless people squandering at almost every corner of its cities. They generally occupy any vacant space i.e., roadsides, pavements, temple-mandaps, and platforms as temporary abode while, ascribed their condition to extreme poverty, unavailability of low cost housing, unstable employment, and violence instituted at home. Street children, beggars, sex workers, and daily wage earners such as construction workers, rickshaw pullers, and street vendors basically are among the homeless in India.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a target for the nation – every Indian must have a house by 2022. He urged this to be a movement during his speech in the Lok Sabha following the President’s address when the newly constituted house met for the first time. This means that India needs 449,761 houses for homeless families. (According to India’s 2011 Census there are 449,761 houseless households/families). So there is a need to build about 55,000-60,000 houses each year to give shelter to all of them by 2022. Bear in mind that the worrying part is the rise in urban homes, which has grown at 20% in the decade from 2001 to 2011.

The good news is that there has been an overall decline in the houseless population from the last Census. While there has been a 28% decline reported from rural India, there has been a 20% increase in houseless people living in the cities.

The Government of India had earlier launched ‘Housing for all’ scheme, which has now being reformed as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. The scheme has been launched by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi on 25th June 2015.

The scheme comes with an aim of constructing more than 2 crore houses across the length and breadth of the nation within a span of next seven years. This means the scheme which is started in year 2015 would conclude successfully in the year 2022. The target beneficiaries of the scheme would be poor and people living under EWS and LIG categories in urban establishments of the country.

Homeless population in Angamaly Municipality

Housing is one of the basic needs of human being and it is important next to food and clothing. Normally the quality of housing reflects the quality of living. Angamaly is a fast growing town and thus the assessment of housing need is important as far as Angamaly municipality is concerned. Residential areas are scattered in all parts of the town.

Total number of houses in Angamaly town is 8273 as per 2011 SECC. As per household survey, 90.38% of the households have buildings of their own while 7.71% of the households live in rented houses and 1.91 % in shared and in employer – provided houses. That means, about 9.62% are houseless

When this is taken into account, there is a shortage of about 764 houses in the town. But more importance should be given to improve the existing housing conditions.

Different Housing schemes implemented in ULB (scheme wise)

As part of the poverty reduction initiatives of Angamaly, several projects have been implemented. The mode of decentralization has been adopted for the successive implementation of the programme. Government of India and Government of Kerala have been framed out various housing programmes throughout the country. VAMBAY, IHSDP, basic services to the urban poor, RAY are proviso programmes of Central Government. Lakshamveedu, EMS Housing scheme, Janakeeyasoothranam etc are the state sponsored programmes.

Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojana (VAMBAY)

VAMBAY was a centrally sponsored programme and was meant for assisting the poor ot build a house. Apart from the central share, the state and ULB also contributes a significiant share. In Angamaly Municipality a total of 245 families were identified and assisted so far through this scheme, utilizing an amount of Rs.99,60,000/-.

Integrated Housing and Slum Development Programme (IHSDP)

IHSDP aims at combining the existed schemes of VAMBAY and NSDP under the new IHSDP scheme of having an integrated approach in ameliorating the conditions of the urban slum dwellers, who do not possess adequate shelter and reside in dilapidated conditions. Integrated Housing and Slum Development programme has literally changed the geographic appearance of slums in the city. There are slums in the municipality selected under IHSDP scheme 72 new houses were sanctioned and 69 houses were completed. 358 houses were sanctioned under maintenance and 352 houses were completed. The holistic developmental approach of the scheme assisted the up gradation of basic amenities and housing sector.

Janakeeyasoothranam (People’s Planning Programme)

Kerala decentralised planning process was enhanced by the devolution of functional and fiscal powers to the local self government institutions. This gave sufficient statutory backing to the decentralised planning process and the new planning process was introduced in the state through the launching of ‘Janakeeyasoothranam’ in a campaign model on7th August 1996 by structuring the ninth plan as People’s Plan. In order to cater the housing needs of people, 219 families were given support for new houses till 2016 - 17

EMS Housing Scheme

     The State government launched a new housing scheme called E M S housing in the year 2009-10. Angamaly municipality has given assistance to 70 families under this scheme.

Apart from these, Angamaly Municipality constructed a flat of six dwelling units and are occupied by SC families.

Ashraya Project

Ashraya is one of the flagship programmes of Government of Kerala initiated and designed by Kudumbasree Mission. While implementing the poverty alleviation programmes, it has been observed that the programmes implemented by the Government and other agencies never reach the rock bottom poor. These people, who live in utter distress and despair, constitute a very small number in the society - the bottom 2% of the total population. Kudumbashree designed a project called Ashraya - Destitute Identification Rehabilitation and Monitoring Project for the rehabilitation of destitute families. Destitute families are identified using a transparent risk index framed by the Mission. Individual needs of the family are identified through a participatory need assessment. The project envisaged to address lack of food, health problems including chronic illness, pension, educational facilities to children, land for home, shelter, drinking water, safe sanitation facilities, skill development, employment opportunities, etc. Angamaly municipality has sanctioned home for the beneficiaries of this project also through the above said programmes

Significiance of PMAY

When we go through the above mentioned various housing scheme in detail, we can notice that so many houses were constructed and also a large number of families have assisted for shelter up gradations so far. Yet, the number of applications for getting assistance for new houses increases every year, also several surveys state that there are so many families not having a pucca shelter.

Another point was that all the above programmes were aiming only the below poverty line families and settlement colonies only. The amount was also comparatively insufficient. Here comes the role of PMAY. Economically Weaker Sections and Low Income Group families are considered in this scheme. The four vertical components altogether make the nation to achieve the goal ‘Housing for All” by 2022

As per municipal records there are 26 non-listed slums in the municipal limit. The total area under slums is 27.52 hectors and the number of houses in the slums is 1385. The majority of people in slums belong to backward classes and are included in the ‘below poverty line’ category. The housing conditions in such area are found to be sustained.