The Hindu       26.08.2014   

VMC seeks more time to develop Gunadala layout

Municipal employees may have to wait for some more time to see the layout for their housing colony at Gunadala in proper shape. The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) is learnt to have sought “some more time” to fulfil its promise made to the Lokayukta which would hear the case on Wednesday (August 27).

The Corporation has been pleading that it needs more time to prepare the layout, saying that it is facing paucity of funds. As soon as the government released the dues, developmental works would be taken up, the VMC officials told Lokayukta last year. They, however, could not keep the promise.

The VMC collected Rs. 9.8 crore from its employees as development charges in 2009. But, the funds were diverted to other purposes. Now, not more than Rs. 17 lakh were available under this head, sources say. The VMC may have to cough up more than Rs. 11 crore to develop the layout if the present Standard Schedule of Rates (SSR) are to be considered.

The 55-acre layout has been mired in controversy ever since the proposal was conceived nearly two decades ago.

The main contention of the employees is that the VMC has diverted the developmental charges for some other purpose; the plots are not registered in their names. They also alleged that the names of ineligible persons had crept into the list.

The employees say that the VMC has been deliberately dilly-dallying on the matter for nearly 18 years. Some employees even breathed their last even before they could realize the dream of building their own house, say Ranganayakulu, employees union leader.