Housing colonies yet to have infrastructure

Anantapur-Puttaparthi: As many as 1,045 YSR housing colonies with 2.23 lakh houses for more than 10 lakh population are coming up in the erstwhile district of Anantapur. They have the potential to change rural and urban demography but the bottlenecks for the beneficiaries are many. Besides dismal situation in terms of infrastructure, the construction of houses is going at slow pace resulting in discontent among the beneficiaries.

The colonies present the picture of bad mud roads, lack of water supply and poor or no lighting. Even four-and-a-half years after the formation of YSRCP government, infrastructure is yet to be developed in the housing colonies.

Facilities like roads, drainage, electricity should have been completed in all colonies in the first phase for hassle-free construction of houses. In many colonies, while house construction is going at fast pace, infrastructure building like roads, drains and water supply has not been taken up.

Many beneficiaries are forced to purchase private water tankers in order to complete their houses. This is resulting in escalation of house construction costs. Due to a host of challenges in construction, not even 50 per cent of the houses have been completed even at the fag end of the present term of the government.

The government repeatedly saying that housing colonies are going to be developed as major or satellite townships triggering a social and economic revolution creating vast self-employment and livelihood opportunities within the townships.

Creation of infrastructure facilities at the housing colonies include water, well laid roads, power supply, drainages, schools, parks, community halls, fair price shops and anganwadis, village secretariats and business complexes. These townships would generate self-employment opportunities and jobs within the township for skilled workers like electricians, plumbers, electronic gadgets technicians, provisional retail sellers and vegetable vendors, cell phone shops, etc. But the picture in reality is nowhere near this vision at present.