Expedite housing project works, Collector tells officials

Visakhapatnam: Collector Praveen Kumar reviewed the status of housing projects here on Sunday. He disclosed that the housing officials should first complete 31,275 houses which were taken up in the district before the launch of NTR Housing Project and 5,107 pending houses under Indira Awas Yojana.

He advised the engineers to mainly focus on the construction work in the Agency mandals as 40 per cent of the houses are being built there. Stating that a special review meeting will be convened every fortnight and official lethargy will not be spared, he warned. If it is necessary, the engineers should make night halts at the sites to ensure early completion, he added.

The housing engineers were directed to educate the beneficiaries who left the houses midway after receiving funds from the government. If the beneficiaries fail to show any interest in completing their houses, serve notices demanding recovery of the amount given to them, he said.

If the engineers submit a detailed report in a week with regard to the unclaimed houses in various housing projects and houses that were sold, he will bring the issue to the notice of the government for taking necessary action,” he added.

Referring to the list of beneficiaries yet to be identified in NTR Rural Housing Project, Central Housing Project and Pradhan Matri Awas Yojana, the Collector directed the engineers to send the list after identifying the beneficiaries by September 8 so that the list could be sent for the approval of the District in-charge Minister.

With regard to the JNNURM and Rajiv Gruha Kalpa housing colonies, he asked the officials to provide basic amenities at the earliest. Director of District Housing G V Prasad made a PowerPoint presentation about the work-in-progress of various housing projects in the district. Executive engineers K Ravi Kumar, T Ramesh, B Babu, Ravisankar, divisional engineers, assistant engineers and works inspectors participated.