Developers, contractors get huge profits in construction of BSUP homes
Thane: The Thane Municipal Corporation blames that the developers and contractors who involved in the housing for slum-dwellers welfare programme in Thane have reaped huge profits.
The JNNURM-funded Basic Services for Urban Poor (BSUP) scheme in Thane, was launched six years ago in order to provide near-free housing for the poor in areas like Tulsidham, Kalwa, Kausa and Kopri. Less than 50 percent (2,412 tenements) of planned 5,443 residential units are ready to be occupied by the end of December.
Despite of the long delay and unfinished works, the developers and contractors who were involved in the construction of the BSUP homes, seem to be benefited with an additional Rs 73 crore profit.
The total cost estimated for the project was Rs 228.33 crore while the developers and contractors have been paid around Rs 174.83 crore. TMC has paid Rs 117 crore while its share was initially fixed at Rs 18 crore. An excess of Rs 73 crore has been put in their pockets.
A top bureaucrat has alleged that this is a criminal conspiracy and fraud planned to share profits by the civic officials, contractors and political leaders. In this case, the developers were supposed to be paid 50 percent of the total cost which is around Rs 101 crore for the 2412 houses that have been built. But the Corporation has paid Rs 174.83 crore which is not acceptable, he expressed.
The authorities have misused public funds and the additional costs for achieving 100 percent completion of BSUP homes will now have to be borne by the TMC alone. But the corporation officials are not ready to fund the escalations arising because of flaws in implementation.
Initially, two project reports had prepared by the TMC. The first project report prepared in 2007, estimated costs at Rs 201.83 crore for construction of 9,423 homes, which was subsequently revised twice. The tenement units were reduced to 5,123 in January 2010 and cost reworked to Rs193.91 crore.
The second detailed project report (DPR) was for construction of 822 homes at an estimated cost of Rs 34.42 crore.
At present, of the 5,123 dwellings planned as per DPR-1, only 1,590 homes have been built so far and work on 3,533 units is still in progress. And as per the DPR-2, all 822 housing units in Thane have been built but the cost has moved up to Rs 56 crore with TMC’s share being Rs 27 core while initially it was estimated to e Rs 3 crore. 11 percent of the cost has to be paid by the beneficiary eligible for the subsidized homes, said official sources.
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