The weaker section housing activity came to a virtual standstill in the district over the past few months, particularly in the aftermath of the CID probe ordered by the Telangana government into alleged large-scale irregularities in the execution of Indiramma housing scheme during 2004-2014.
As many as 64,415 houses taken up under various weaker section housing programmes, including the Indiramma housing scheme, were pending completion across the district. Of the total 2,87,233 houses sanctioned under the weaker section housing programmes in the district so far, 2,22,818 houses were completed till July 31, this year.
The government has incurred a huge expenditure to the tune of Rs. 1,025 crore towards execution of the housing programmes in the district, sources added. As many as 64,415 houses were lying incomplete in the ten Assembly constituencies in the district. Of these, 10,978 houses were at below basement level, 27,989 at basement level, 4,732 houses at lintel level and 20,716 houses at roof level.
The fate of the incomplete houses now hangs in balance as the officials concerned allegedly held back payments in respect of some houses in view of the ongoing inquiry into the alleged scam that took place in the housing scheme in the last decade. The departmental inquiries had earlier revealed as many as 21 instances of irregularities in respect of 977 houses involving an amount of Rs. 12 crore in the district.
The CID teams reportedly found glaring irregularities in the implementation of the Indiramma housing scheme during their recent field based investigation at various places in the district. The divisional engineers are conducting a field-based study to verify the status of the already completed houses and those pending completion in the district, said Vidyam Bhaskar, Project Director, TSHCL, Khammam.
Foolproof mechanism is being evolved to prevent irregularities in the housing scheme. The images of the houses should be uploaded to the server and the unique identification Aadhaar number of each beneficiary should be furnished in the prescribed format henceforth, he said.
