BRS govt failed to identify 2bhk beneficiaries: CAG

Hyderabad: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) revealed that the BRS government failed to identify beneficiaries for the 2BHK scheme, rendering a purposeless expenditure of Rs 3,983.68 crore incurred on the houses.

In the GHMC limits, out of the one lakh houses that were sanctioned, the construction of 48,178 houses were completed, work underway in 45,735 units were in progress while construction of 6,087 were stopped midway or not taken up.

It said 96 per cent of completed houses remained unoccupied for periods from less than six months to more than 36 months, as the state government failed to identify beneficiaries.

In the MA&UD department, there was an inordinate delay in the completion of the sewage treatment plant (STPs). Construction of STPs and underground drainage system in Suryapet municipality was awarded to Ramky Infrastructure Ltd in 2009 for Rs 22.28 crore (first agreement) with an 18-month deadline.

The contractor executed the works valued at Rs 17.26 crore and was paid Rs 16.21 crore in March 2018. However, the state government closed the work in the same month citing that the 35 acres of land required for construction of two STPs was not handed over to the contractor.

The CAG report stated that GHMC did not collect Rs 7.41 crore arrears from advertising agencies. It did not even collect basic regularisation charges while issuing building permission and the licence amount of public parks was also remitted.