Pending bills stall construction of priority buildings

Rajamahendravaram: Asmany as 119 priority buildings taken up across East Godavari district for various government offices have remained incomplete due to non-release of funds and pending bills amounting to Rs 23 crore, causing inconvenience to villagers and officials alike.

The construction of these buildings, initiated after 2019, is still at different unfinished stages. The projects include buildings for village secretariats, Rythu Bharosa Kendras (now known as RSKs), and village health clinics. As the works are yet to be completed, secretariats, RSKs and health clinics in several villages continue to function from rented premises.

Contractors and villagers said the works came to a halt midway as bills running into crores of rupees were not cleared on time. In 2022, a total of 1,101 buildings were sanctioned in different constituencies of the then East Godavari district for village secretariats, Rythu Bharosa Kendras, and YSR Village Health Clinics. Due to land issues, court cases, and other reasons, the number was later reduced to 978. Even these buildings have not been fully made operational so far.

The construction works were taken up under the supervision of Panchayat Raj Engineering officials. Contractors stopped work, citing non-payment of bills within the stipulated time. Ahead of the 2024 general elections, the then government reportedly put pressure on contractors and managed to complete some of the works. As a result, 859 buildings were completed, while the remaining 119 buildings were left incomplete at various stages.

It is learnt that even for the completed buildings, full payments have not been made. By 2024, bills worth Rs 39.03 crore were payable for buildings that were completed or under construction. Though bills worth about Rs 23 crore were uploaded, payments are yet to be released.

After the change of government in 2024, there has been little progress in completing the remaining works, according to sources. Contractors said the construction can be resumed and completed only if the pending funds are released at the earliest.