beneficiaries in Visakhapatnam" width="" height="" />Problems continue to plague the housing scheme under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) in the city.Only 6,500 beneficiaries have so far occupied the houses since they were allotted in 2010.
beneficiaries in Visakhapatnam" width="" height="" />
VISAKHAPATNAM: Problems continue to plague the housing scheme under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) in the city.
Only 6,500 beneficiaries have so far occupied the houses since they were allotted in 2010. The corporation had constructed 14,139 houses and of them, 12,348 were handed over to the beneficiaries. The state government had sanctioned 15320 houses in 39 layouts in the city during 2008.
As many as 1791 houses were not allotted due to court cases.
Sources said 5,848 houses are still vacant with the beneficiaries not coming forward to occupy them. The reasons are many. They include enrolment of bogus beneficiaries and lack of basic facilities like water supply, electricity, roads, drainage, streetlights and community halls.
CPI leader JV Satyanarayana Murthy said the authorities concerned identified 1.42 lakh people as homeless during 2006-07. Following the survey, the state government had sanctioned the housing scheme under JNNURM in 2008. District CPM secretary Lokanadham said about 20% of the houses were allotted to bogus beneficiaries.
A house committee was appointed in 2012 to look into the alleged irregularities in the scheme. Pragada Srinivasu, secretary for Association for Regional Tribal Development (urban wing), said, "We have found that a person had bought 35 houses on fictitious names at Pineapple Colony Layout."
When contacted, GVMC commissioner Pravin Kumar said 90 per cent of the work on infrastructure had been completed.
"We will complete the pending work soon. We have released Rs 1 crore to take up repairs to houses damaged during the cyclone Hudhud," he added.
