JOIN USDonors delay Aasare delivery
The State Government had promised to relocate 60 villages affected by the flood by constructing 13,031 houses. However, two years down the line, only 30 villages have been relocated.
The government agencies took up construction of 9,890 houses while donors had promised 3,141 Aasare units. But so far only 2,442 houses have been handed over to the victims.
The work on 6,718 of houses is nearing completion. Worse, the foundation has been laid for 1,591 houses while 1,104 houses are still on the drawing board. Donors who promised 3,141 houses, have so far completed only 1,090 units.
Biocon, which promised 411 units, has so far constructed only 19. CREDAI-Karnataka has completed construction of 174 dwelling units against the promise of 986 houses.
The completed houses have not been handed over to the flood-affected. It is yet to begin rehabilitation work in six villages of Badami and Hunagunda taluks. Deputy Commissioner A M Kunjappa told Deccan Herald that he has urged the State Government to withdraw the project from CREDAI and entrust the house building responsibility to a government agency.
R C Foundation, which had promised 600 houses, has so far constructed only 293 units, which are yet to be handed over. It is yet to begin the work on 307 houses in Pattadakallu. The rehabilitation plan is said to have been dropped on the direction of the Revenue minister since a dispute has been pending over the site on which houses were proposed to be constructed.
Coffee Day has completed work on 28 houses against the promise of 180 while Art of Living has constructed 227 houses against its promise to construct 340 houses.
The work on the remaining houses is yet to begin. Seva Bharati, which promised 517 houses, has so far constructed only 241. However, JSS Institutions of Mysore has handed over all the 107 houses constructed by it.
July deadline
The government agencies are expected to complete 90 per cent of their target by July
end.
The donor agencies
too would be asked to meet the deadline. The work would be entrusted to government agencies if the donors failed to meet the deadline, Kunjappa said.
Shabby, leaky shelters
The much-touted Aasare houses have offered no relief to flood-affected farmers. The houses, constructed at a cost of Rs 1.25 lakh each are so ‘secure’ that the residents fear the shelter may collapse in a year. While some houses lack power and water connection, the roofs of some are leaky.
“Water from bathroom stagnates in front of the house. There is no space to cook food in the two-room dwelling. We have no place to tether our livestock, stock firewood or dispose garbage. This not a typical farmer’s house,” said Shivappa Ambigera of Kotnalli in Badami taluk. Some victims have refused the houses for the fear that their dwellings damaged by the floods would be demolished subsequently. Some have “accepted” the houses only to lock them and continue to reside in their old homes, Mallesh of Sabbalahunasi village said.