BENGALURU: Two thousand families from economically weaker sections in Koppal district have been waiting for houses under the Vajpayee Urban Housing Scheme for more than a decade. Plants and trees have come up in all 2,000 sites, measuring 20’x30’ each. Among them, partial constructions were made on 1,292 sites, and the constructions are yet to start on 788 sites, though a work order was issued in 2013 for construction.
Upa Lokayukta Justice B Veerappa, who visited Koppal district recently, has registered a suo motu complaint on the issue. Cases have been registered against Venkatesh Naganur, Commissioner; Somalingappa, Junior Engineer; Basavaraj Police Patil, Case Worker of the CMC and Assistant Executive Engineer of Nirmithi Kendra; Tahsildar at District Urban Development Cell.
Ablueprint of a total of 2,000 sites on 96 acres on Sindhogi and Hoovinala Roads has been prepared by the Nirmithi Kendra. Of which, except for 74 beneficiaries, the work order was issued on February 2, 2013, for the construction of houses for 1,926 beneficiaries. As per the work order, the total expenditure for the construction of each house was Rs 2.10 lakh, of which Rs 30,000 has to be borne by the beneficiary, Rs 75,000 was government aid, and the remaining Rs 1.05 lakh is to be a bank loan.
The total cost was Rs 42 crore, and only Rs 12 crore was released. Also, the bank has declined to release its component of Rs 1.05 lakh in view of the fact that the lands bearing Sy.Nos. 591/2, 592/2, 3, 4, 599/1, 2, 130/2, 1/2, 4, 5 and 16, which were used for the formation of sites, have not been converted. A total of Rs 12.69 crore was released so far, including Rs 9.69 crore by the Rajiv Gandhi Rural Housing Corporation and Rs 3 crore by the CMC, to Nirmithi Kendra for the construction of houses.
Therefore, a total of 1,292 houses, which are under construction, have stood still as they are. Only the construction was completed for some houses, but windows and doors were not fitted; only walls were constructed for some houses. No construction started on the remaining 788 sites for a decade.
Meanwhile, on April 28, 2022, title deeds were issued to the beneficiaries and those who requested the CMC to handover the sites or the houses as it is now to them. Despite all this, the Nirmithi Kendra is collecting Rs 2,000 each from each beneficiary as maintenance charges every year, and the beneficiaries and the locals complained to Upa Lokayukta.