A ground breaking ceremony for the much-awaited Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojna (PMAY) was held at the project site in Birsanagar on Monday.

Managerial staff of JRS Infratech, one of the eight construction firms engaged in getting the project executed, initiated digging work at the site after performing the ceremony.

Located at the eastern fringe of the steel city, the PMAY project will be constructed on five-acre government land. It will be set up at a locality called Laltand under Hurlung panchayat in Birsanagar.

The PMAY project is being carried out under the aegis of Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee (JNAC), the civic body which has a command in the entire steel city beside Birsanagar located about 12 km away from the heart of the city.

Revealing about the project, JNAC's city manager, Ravi Bharti said that all 9,592 houses are being constructed under the PMAY.

“There will be nine-storeyed buildings and each residential unit is proposed to have a bedroom, a dining hall, kitchen, bathroom and a balcony,” said Bharti while talking to The Telegraph Online.

The city manager said that the high rise residential flats will be fitted with an elevator and there will be enough space for parking.

Bharti, on being asked, said though over 9,500 residential units are being constructed the valid applicant's number is just 3,200.

“A total of 3,200 applications have been processed. We are waiting for more applications from the aspiring people who have no house on their names anywhere,” said the senior civic officer.

As the groundbreaking ceremony started at 10 am on Monday, a section of local goons created ruckus at the site. The JNAC officials, who were present there, informed the police. The police intervened and removed the hurdle.