VIJAYAWADA: The mega construction of 15.62 lakh houses began in Andhra Pradesh, creating a new record on Thursday. Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy virtually launched works at YSR Jagananna Colonies across the state.
As many as 28,30,227 houses will be constructed in two phases at a cost of
Rs 50,944 crore. In the phase-1, 15.6 lakh houses will be constructed at a
cost of Rs 28,084 crore by June 2022, and 12.70 lakh houses in phase-2 would
be ready by 2023.
Addressing the beneficiaries, an elated Jagan Mohan Reddy said a housing
programme for the poor on such a large scale was never launched anywhere in the country. He said this programme gave him more satisfaction than any
other welfare initiative. For its fast completion, the project was
associated with the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY).
After distributing 30.76 lakh house sites to the homeless poor, the
government embarked on another historic programme of making their dream houses a reality.
Referring to the 2011 census, he said that of the total population of 4.95
crore, almost 1.24 lakh people would be having their own houses. New
villages and towns would emerge with all modern amenities in these layouts.
A Joint Collector has been designated in each district to monitor the work,
apart from the existing three Joint Collectors.
The CM stated that for the next one week, the foundation-laying ceremonies
would be taking place amid a festival atmosphere by adhering to Covid safety protocols.
Explaining the design of houses, the CM said, “Unlike in the past, the
present government is building each house in a 340 square feet area with a
bedroom, hall, kitchen, bathroom and porch. Also, each house is provided with two fans, two tube lights, four bulbs, and a Syntex tank. This would become an asset worth Rs 5-15 lakhs for each beneficiary.”
Almost Rs 4,128 crore is being spent on providing drinking water, Rs 22,587
crore on roads and drainage, Rs 4,986 crore on power supply, Rs 627 crore on internet and Rs 567 crore on other facilities for these colonies with a
total cost of Rs 32,909 crore on physical infrastructure alone.
Ministers Ch. Sriranganatha Raju, Botsa Satyanarayana, Chief Secretary
Adityanath Das, Special Chief Secretary (Housing) Ajay Jain, AP-State
Housing Corporation Limited MD Narayana Bharat Gupta and other officials
were present at the event.
