2010 flood victims yet to get houses

BANGALORE: Though the government spent over Rs 2,700 crore to relocate over 3 lakh people, who were displaced in the 2010 flood, half of them still live in make-shift tin sheds in many districts.According to official sources, the construction of over 47,183 houses has been completed under the Aasare programme. The programme promised to hand over 56, 000 houses to the victims. However, only half of the completed houses has been handed over by the district administration. As many as  17,713 houses have been constructed by donors, which include corporate houses, NGOs, educational institutions and state-owned enterprises including Hutti Gold Mines Company among others. The rest were built by the state government housing agencies, including Karnataka Housing Board and Nirmiti Kendra.The state government had released over `460 crore for the Asare scheme, the Union Government had provided over `1,700 crore for the relief work and `490 crore public donation was received. The BJP government headed by B S Yeddyurappa had taken up the housing project to relocate over 289 villages located on the banks of Krishna, Tunga Bhadra, Bhima, Doni and Malaprabha and Ghataprabha rivers in north Karnataka. The project was to be completed in year to rehabilitate over 3 lakh people.  “The plights of those who were living in the tin-sheds battling the scorching summer is unbearable. It is difficult the conditions of over 1 lakh people, including, children, women and old people.” said Opposition leader in  Karnataka Legislative Council Motamma.With the aid of corporate houses, including, that of Infosys, Cisco, Wipro, TCS and educational institutions, the state government was able to build over 5,6000 houses within one year. “Despite several letters to Chief Minister’s Office, the concerned district administration made no effort. As a result, a large number of houses remained vacant,” said a senior official CMO office on conditions of anonymity. According to sources, 17,000 houses have been completed and are yet to be handed over to the beneficiaries. The construction of another 13,000 houses will  be completed soon.