Diversion of funds turned the project non-viable: Mrunalini

• Says TDP govt is planning to clear pending bills to the contractors within six months
• To invite fresh tenders

Hyderabad: Housing Minister Kimidi Mrunalini said that floating Rajiv Swagruha in 2006 without any financial sanctions during Y S Rajasekhara Reddy’s government and diversion of majority of funds from the banks to six housing projects in Hyderabad left the whole project in doldrums.

Responding to a question raised by BJP floor leader and BJP MLA Vishnukumar Raju during the Question Hour in the Assembly on Tuesday, she said that the Andhra Pradesh Rajiv Swagruha Corporation Limited (APRSCL) was formed to provide houses for middle class households in the State.

Besides, non-allocation of funds by the then government, the MD appointed to the corporation without authority had availed loans from five national banks to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore. But, most of the money availed has been spent on the six projects being taken up in Hyderabad neglecting the projects in AP.

This way, out of the total sum, only Rs 105 crore had come to AP and several other projects were in half-way. Due to non-assessment of demand, the housing projects turned non-viable and the corporation fell into a major financial chaos. As of now the liability on account of Rajiv Swagruha is about Rs 906 crore, Mrunalini said.

Taking this into consideration, the government decided to invite fresh tenders and also clear the pending bills to the contractors within the next six months. However, contenting this, Raju demanded that the government should immediately release Rs 60 crore for contractors and another Rs 21 crore payable to the people who had paid advances to own houses under the scheme.

He pointed out that the money could be raised as recommended earlier by selling lands at the Yendada project site as the land value there has now turned very high. YSRCP MLA from Badvel in Kadapa district T Jayaramulu lashed out at the State government for not paying compensation to those displaced under the Somasila project.

Raising the issue during the Question Hour, he demanded that the government should specify whether it intended to give compensation to the lands submerged. However, rejecting the same, Water Resources Minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao said that the government has paid compensation to all those lands submerged under the project.

He said the compensation has been paid in Gopavaram and Atlur mandals. The compensation was paid for 7.870 acres in Atluru and about 15,509 acres in Gopavaram mandals. However, it was proposed to acquire an additional 80.12 acres in Atluru for which 80 per cent of the compensation has been paid.

The government would also sympathetically consider on humanitarian grounds in case of any one affected in the backwaters area of the project, he added. Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development P Narayana said that the Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority (VUDA) has taken steps to protect heritage sites like Bavikonda, Thotlakonda, Pavuralakonda, Sankaram and others.

Responding to a question raised by MLA V Ganesh Kumar, he said that steps have been taken to protect the heritage sites part from developing landscape. “The conservation of the sites had been given to the Indian National Trust and Arts and Culture (INTACH) as per a government order in 2006,” he added.