Demolition of incomplete Indiramma houses becomes controversy in Jagtial

The demolition of 100 incomplete Indiramma houses in Nukapalli, Jagtial sparked a controversy, with senior Congress leader Jeevan Reddy blaming officials for acting without notice. Local MLA Sanjay Kumar defended the move, saying it was meant for development works

Jagtial: Demolition of 100 incomplete Indiramma houses in Nukapalli, on the outskirts of Jagtial town by municipal officials, led to a controversy on Monday and once again exposed the differences between senior Congress leader Jeevan Reddy and local MLA Dr Sanjay Kumar.

In 2008, when Jeevan Reddy was the Road and Buildings Minister, 175 acres of land was identified at Nukapalli, 9 kilometres away from Jagtial town, for the construction of 4,000 Indiramma houses.

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Besides the subsidy, a loan facility was also provided to beneficiaries for the construction of houses. While some of the beneficiaries completed their houses, a majority of them failed to do so due to lack of money.

In 2018, the BRS government took up the construction of 4,520 double-bedroom houses at the same site and demolished about 1,500 incomplete houses due to lack of sufficient space. It became a controversy as officials failed to allocate the double-bedroom houses to the original beneficiaries.

Recently, Jeevan Reddy represented to Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, requesting him to release funds for completing the remaining incomplete Indiramma houses. Based on the CM’s instructions, the collector prepared estimations for Rs 52 crore and submitted them to the government.

Meanwhile, municipal officials demolished 100 incomplete houses on Sunday. Beneficiaries alleged that the officials carried out the demolition without giving notices or prior intimation.

After coming to know about the incident, Jeevan Reddy visited the site and found fault with the officials for demolishing Indiramma houses when estimates for their completion were already submitted to the government. Without naming anyone, he said the demolition was done to gain political benefit.

Reacting to the issue, Sanjay Kumar said that the incomplete houses were demolished to construct a school, hospital, dormitory hall, anganwadi centre and other public structures. Except for development, there was no other intention, the MLA clarified.