60% Jagananna houses still incomplete

Dasari Srinivasa Rao
Vijayawada

Though the State government is giving top priority to the construction of houses under the prestigious Pedalandariki Illu, the works are not progressing at the desired pace. The State government had decided to conduct the housewarming function on December 21 after completing the construction works. However, not even 40 per cent of houses are complete in the last week of November. The remaining 60 per cent of houses must be completed by December 21.

The State government has sanctioned 83,633 houses to NTR district, and the district administration set a target to complete 12,264 of them by December 21. As of today, however, only 4,780 houses have been completed. The remaining houses are in different stages of construction. According to the Housing Department officials, at least 7,500 houses must be completed to conduct the housewarming programme on December 21.

Sources in the department said that 4,585 houses must be completed in Vijayawada Revenue Division by December 21, 2,722 houses in the Nandigama division, and 178 houses in the Tiruvuru division. Following the directives of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and NTR District Collector Dr S Dilli Rao, every Saturday is observed as Housing Day for completing the targets.

As per the data available at the NTR District Housing Department, 2,351 houses are on the basement level (BL) and 1,843 houses are on the roof level. Besides, 3,290 houses are on the roof cast level, the sources said. The department targets to complete 2,294 houses every week.

For the past month, District Collector Dilli Rao has been conducting review meetings with Housing, Panchayat Raj, MPDO, Revenue, and other departments to complete the targeted 12,264 houses. But the works are so slow, only 100 to 150 houses are completed every week, the sources added.

In NTR district, there are seven assembly constituencies and the department plans to conduct housewarming of a total of 12,264 houses on December 21 — 5,184 in Mylavaram constituency, 2,771 in Nandigama, 2,086 in Jaggaiahpet, 1,196 in Vijayawada Central, 500 in Vijayawada East, 392 in Tiruvuru and 135 houses in Vijayawada West.

However, in the Mylavaram constituency, 3,161 houses are still in various stages of construction. As many as 1,614 houses are to be completed in Nandigama, 1,108 in Jaggaiahpet, 986 in Vijayawada Central, 385 in Vijayawada East, 178 houses are to be completed in Tiruvuru and 52 in the Vijayawada West constituency.

The department observes every Saturday as Housing Day, but due to the lack of funds, the beneficiaries are unable to complete their houses. “The sanctioned amount of Rs.1.80 lakh is not sufficient to complete the house. Due to the increasing prices of building materials such as cement, iron, and others, the construction cost is more than Rs. 6 lakh. So, I am unable to complete the house with the amount allocated by the government,” said D Subrahmanyam Raju, a beneficiary.

The State government has assigned the house construction works to a third party, but the agency is not ready to continue because the sanctioned amount is inadequate, he said. He urged the State government to take steps to complete the houses as early as possible.