Hyderabad: There is a huge rush to secure Mission Kakatiya contracts for restoration of lakes in TS, but no contractor is coming forward to take up construction of 2BHK houses. Both these schemes are the flagship programmes of the TS government. Interestingly, contractors are securing Mission Kakatiya works by quoting prices far less than estimates for restoration of lakes. Contractors view Mission Kakatiya works as profitable as no major investment is required on raw material or equipment. Most of the expenditure would be incurred towards labour cost for removal of silt from tanks and transportation. With villagers themselves volunteering for restoration of tanks in their villages and providing tractors, bullock carts for free and in some cases just fuel charges are being sought, contractors are incurring lower than expected expenses.
Moreover, the stipulated timeframe for Mission Kakatiya works is just about 2-3 months and contractors’ payments are being cleared quite early. This is in marked contrast to the 2BHK scheme. The government has prescribed the cost of each 2BHK house at just Rs 5.04 lakh in rural areas and Rs 5.30 lakh in urban areas. The cost per sq. ft. works out to just Rs 900. Due to this, contractors are shying away from bidding. Though the government had called tenders thrice to build 2BHK houses in the city since January, there was no response.
