HYDERABAD: The GHMC has borrowed Rs 140 crore from Housing and Urban Development Corporation Ltd (Hudco) for repair of about 20,000 houses constructed under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) 20 years ago, but which have not yet been allotted.
This apart, over a span of seven years after TRS government came to power, only 3,660 double bedroom (2BHK) houses have been distributed to urban poor, though about 60,000 houses have been constructed and are ready for distribution.
Sources say the civic body, along with revenue department, is deliberately delaying the process of identifying beneficiaries claiming that according to GO No. 3 dated November 6, 2020 pertaining to selection of beneficiaries for 2BHK houses, applicants who have already been allotted houses in previous housing schemes, like rural housing, urban housing, Indiramma, Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), Integrated Housing and Slum Development Programme (IHSDP), Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojana (Vambay), and Rajiv Gruha Kalpa (RGK) in the state will be excluded from the 2BHK scheme by taking the help of the Telangana State Technology Services (TSTS).
The GO will directly make about 23,000 JNNURM, RGK and Vambay beneficiaries ineligible for 2BHK houses, even though they have paid nominal amounts from 2001 to 2005 but are still awaiting allotment of a house.
According to official data, 64,300 houses have been constructed under JNNURM and RGK schemes during the past 15 years. Of them 45,945 houses have been allotted and 18,355 are vacant. Around 8,090 houses are still in the construction stage. Under Vambay scheme, 3,969 houses are still to be handed over to beneficiaries out of 6,036 houses constructed; some 2,250 of these houses are under different stages of construction. This means 22,324 houses (18,355 plus 3,969) are yet to be handed over to beneficiaries within the GHMC limits.
Official sources said the quality of JNNURM houses is so substandard that cement flakes are falling off and even rats are making holes in the walls.
Underlining this, the civic body sought Rs. 300 crore from Hudco for repairing the houses but only Rs 140 crore have been released.
Incidentally, the state government has allocated a total Rs. 8,598.58 crore for construction of one lakh double bedroom houses. Out of this, the government has so far released Rs 6,147 crore. Officials say had the government had released the entire amount at one time, 2 BHK houses would have been completed a year ago and handed over to revenue department for distribution to beneficiaries.
