Apathy mars govt quarters in Madikeri

Staff forced to stay in rented houses

However, owing to the lack of funds, several government quarters are in dilapidated condition and are mirror to the government’s negligence.

Six pairs of government quarters situated behind SP’s bunglow are in dilapidated conditioon owing to the lack of maintenance. It was MLC M C Nanaiah who highlighted the deplorable condition of quarters in KDP meeting recently. He said “the windows, doors will be taken away by the thieves if action is not initiated.”

It is not right to make allegations against PWD for the poor maintenance of quarters. Without funds from government, what can department do? However, government officials feel that PWD should not keep quite, if money is not released by the government.

Several government officials who get transferred to Kodagu are living in rented houses paying huge amount of rent. The irony is that the government quarters built by the government for the government employees are in dilapidated condition.

The electricity supply to these quarters have been removed recently. Windows and doors have been broken. If the quarters are maintained, then it can be allotted to government officials. In Madikeri, 19 such quarters are in neglected condition.

For the maintenance of Government quarters, PWD has been writing letters to the government seeking funds. However, funds have not been released so far. There is technical problem in transferring the maintenance work to the Zilla Panchayat engineering division. The quarters are constructed by Karnataka State Housing Board.

PWD Executive Engineer Ravikumar said “We have already written letter to PWD secretary seeking funds of Rs 25 lakh for repairing 19 quarters in Madikeri. If we get the fund, we will initiate measures to repair the quarters at the earliest.”

In Madikeri, the home stay culture is on rise. As a result, there is severe shortage of rented houses for the government employees who get transferred to the district. If the government initiates measures to repair the quarters, it will be of great helpful to the employees.