VIJAYAWADA: Beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY)-NTR Nagar Urban Housing Scheme have demanded that the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) officials ensure speedy completion of the ongoing housing project at Jakkampudi and handover the flats allotted to them in January.
In all, 8,284 beneficiaries in three Assembly constituencies of the city were given flat numbers by Mayor Koneru Sreedhar through online lottery system. “We were assured of receiving 300-sq ft flats by April. But even after passage of two months, we did not receive any further communication from the civic body in this regard. Initially, we had paid the amount for purchasing 430 sq ft-sized flats, but the officials allotted 300-sq ft sized flats stating that the beneficiaries were identified through lottery system,” beneficiary K Jogulamba said.
Another beneficiary Ch Ram Babu alleged that the civic body gave excuses when questioned about the delay in completion of the housing project. “How can the officials collect Demand Draft (DD) amount of Rs 25,000 from the beneficiaries when they were not in a position to handover the flats on time?,” he said. Ram Babu called upon rest of the beneficiaries to form a committee to take up the issue to the notice of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and seek justice.
According to VMC officials, the Telugu Desam government had commissioned the project to construct 28,152 houses under ‘Housing for All’ scheme for the homeless poor and for those whose residences were demolished due to execution of development projects.
In April 2016, former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had laid the foundation stone for construction of 12,000 houses on 265 acres of land adjacent to the hilly terrain of Jakkampudi for weaker sections and 8,300 families living on canal bunds in the city.
Andhra Pradesh Township And Infrastructure Development Corporation (APTIDCO) was entrusted with the task for realising the project situated between Jakkampudi and Vemavaram villages. However, even though APTIDCO had readied proposals for constructing 10,800 flats, they had to cut short the target to 8,476 flats as the site was surrounded by hills. Out of total 8,476, construction of 6,572 flats are still underway whereas work for 1,924 flats are yet to begin.
Speaking to TNIE on Monday, VMC in-charge superintendent engineer JV Rama Krishna said that in the first phase, the civic body had received 28,000 applications for the 8,476 houses. “Out of the total applications, 14,706 were scrutinised and around Rs 37.56 crore was collected from the beneficiaries in the form of DD,” he said.
The official attributed the delay in completion of the project by April to Model Code of Conduct. “A meeting will be convened with TIDCO officials to review the work progress and an announcement for handing over the flats to the beneficiaries will be made,” he added.
Numbers at a glance
Total flats: 8,476
Ongoing work: 6,572
Yet to begin: 1,924
Beneficiaries: 8,284
Amount collected: Rs 37.56 crore
Cause of delay: Model Code of Conduct