Fund, labour shortage hit 66,000 2BHK houses
Can complete only 8,226 units before GHMC polls, say officials
A severe staff and fund crunch has brought work on 66,000 double bedroom houses for the urban poor in the city to a halt. GHMC and housing department officials said with the available resources they would be able to complete only 8,226 units before the GHMC polls.
The project has bills for ₹4,600 crore pending. Executing agencies have told GHMC that they cannot go ahead with the work unless the arrears are cleared. The civic body has to spend `75,000 per dwelling unit towards infrastructure. It also has to lay roads, sewer lines for sanitation and construct electricity substations for the house clusters.
Though the 2BHK project in the city is on the government’s priority list, it has released only 50 per cent of the total ₹8.598.58 crore in instalments. It released ₹800 crore in May 2019 and ₹400 crore in the 14 months since then. The delay in sanction of funds has caused the deadline to be missed by two years.
Besides, officials were engaged in holding back to back elections for a year and a half from December
● A SENIOR GHMC official, requesting anonymity, said that the corporation might have completed the project by 2018 if it had the funds in time.
2017 to mid-2019.
A senior GHMC official, requesting anonymity, said that the corporation might have completed the project by 2018 if it had the funds in time. “Though cement and steel manufacturers agreed to reduce the price to ₹230 per bag and ₹32,000 per tonne, the government has assured them of price adjustment in the future. This would put a huge burden on the government which would hit the progress of the project due to the financial burden”, he said. The official said that contractors were in no mood to take up any work beyond `10 crore citing the Covid-19 outbreak and the unpaid bills. The executing agencies were ready to walk out of the project once their pending bills were cleared, in light of the four-year delay.
He said that if the government releases funds, the GHMC could still complete the project in a year. “If not, it will be a long wait for the beneficiaries,” the official said.