BBMP builds castles in the air for SC/STs

Houses in 22.75 per cent scheme under construction forever

A housing scheme of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/STs) has gone so awry that the beneficiaries are terrified at the very mention of it.

Large-scale irregularities in the housing projects being implemented under the ‘22.75 per cent scheme’ were brought to the fore by the Technical Vigilance Cell under the Commissioner in September last year at Bommanahalli, Pulakeshinagar and Shantinagar Assembly constituencies.

The inquiry report pointed to irregularities to the tune of Rs 7.59 crore. The beneficiaries, meanwhile, continue to live in pitiable conditions.

Two years ago, the Palike decided to construct 24 houses for people from SC/ST communities at an estimated cost of Rs 72 lakh at Shantinagar. A total of 13 families were chosen as beneficiaries at the Pourakarmika Colony in the area (near Langford Town).

BBMP handed over the house construction work to the Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Limited (KRIDL). The work is far from over even 15 months after it began, though none of the sites measure more than 300 sq ft.

K Bhaskar, a resident of E-Street of the Colony, said: “The fraud committed by politicians, contractors and engineers has not only made me cough up Rs 75,000, it has also cost me my job. For the last eight months, I have been jobless.”

Bhaskar was working for a cargo company at Wilson Garden. Two years ago, when Dr B R Ambedkar Samaja Kalyana Sangha informed him about the scheme, Bhaskar was elated as it came at a time when he was planning to renovate his house.

Immediately, he applied for the scheme and the Palike approved his application. The first thing the KRIDL contractor did on November 22, 2010, was demolish Bhaskar’s old house to lay the foundation for a new building. Fifteen months on, the building is far from over even as he continues to stay in the rented house.

To speed up work, he borrowed money. Soon, moneylenders started pestering him to return the loan. A frustrated Bhaskar quit his job so as to get the settlement amount and clear the debts. For the last eight months, Bhaskar is jobless while his wife and sister are running the family of six.

While demolishing his house to construct a new building, KRIDL also razed an old toilet building to replace it with a new one at an estimated cost of Rs 10 lakh. The construction of neither Bhaskar’s house nor the toilet was completed. There is a Hindu burial ground nearby, which Bhaskar’s family uses as a toilet.

The case of Damodar is no different. He told Deccan Herald that he was in touch with the contractor, local engineer and corporator to get the work done, but there has been no progress. Damodar said he had lost hope and had stopped going to the construction site to check the progress.

Rajamma, another beneficiary, too is in dire straits. She had to spend her own money of Rs 1.25 lakh when the contractor told her that she should bear the cost of construction as KRIDL was yet to release the funds.

“The contractor told us that once KRIDL releases the money, he will reimburse us. One-and-half years have gone by. Neither have we got the money, nor the work is completed,” Rajamma’s son Krishnamurthy said.

Nagaiah, Sriramulu, Adi Amma and Balamma, other ‘beneficiaries’ of the 22.75 per cent scheme, have similar stories to share of the apathetic attitude of KRIDL and BBMP.