Karnataka: Housing dept says hardly 30% housing projects completed till now

BENGALURU, Karnataka: In its response to a query raised in the state legislative council by MLCs DS Arun and Aravind Kumar Arali, the Department of Housing informed that the government has sanctioned 4,61,159 houses since the beginning of 2020-21, out of which only 1,30,471 houses are completed till now, while 1,36,180 are in various stages of completion.

Additionally, construction work hasn’t begun on 1,91,332 houses and construction of 3,176 houses has been withheld by the department, stating technical reasons.

Only 2,673 out of 15,491 sanctioned houses have been completed in Bengaluru urban, indicating slow progress. The process of constructing houses has been slower in north Karnataka districts. For example, in Bagalkot, only 3,604 houses, out of the total 14,463 sanctioned houses, have been completed as of yet. Similarly, in Vijayanagar, 11,544 houses were sanctioned of which only 444 are completed. 

Currently, the state government is implementing several housing schemes for the urban areas, including Vajpayee Urban Housing Project, B R Ambedkar Nivas Yojana, Devaraj Urs Housing Scheme, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Beneficiary-led Construction BLC-NC), Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Affordable Housing in Partnership-Karnataka Slum Development Board – AHP-KSDB) and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Affordable Housing in Partnership-Urban Local Bodies – AHP-ULB).

Similarly, four housing projects are being implemented in rural areas of the state. These projects include the Devaraj Urs Housing Scheme, B R Ambedkar Housing Scheme, Basava Housing Scheme, and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Rural).

The new Siddaramaiah government has not sanctioned any new housing projects in the last six months, as confirmed by the department. The government is focusing on the completion of already approved houses.