Unoccupied Ashraya houses sealed in Hubli

Unoccupied Ashraya houses sealed in Hubli
The Hindu

HUBLI: The officials of the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation have sealed 750 of the 1,035 Ashraya houses at Bidnal on Thursday.

The action follows the continued non-occupation of the houses, which had been completed with the beneficiaries paying hardly any heed to the repeated notices given to them by the corporation in this regard.

A number of beneficiaries rushed to the spot even as a team of officials descended at the locality early in the day. They started protesting against the action of the officials and said non-occupation was due to the failure on part of the corporation in providing basic amenities in the area.

Senior officials rejected the charge and said the corporation has taken steps to provide borewell and roads in the colony. The beneficiaries have to get electricity connections themselves by paying the requisite fees, as the Government has shelved the Kutir Jyothi scheme.

The non-occupation of the Ashraya houses had figured in the recent meetings of the corporation.

The councillors had urged the commissioner to take action in this regard. The officials did not rule out the possibility of cancelling the allotment in case the beneficiaries continued to stay away. Some of the houses are likely to be re-allotted to those who were displaced during the corporation's demolition drive.

Sources said that one of the reasons for the non-occupation of the houses is that some of the beneficiaries had got the houses in violation of the rules and planned to rent them out. A complaint to this effect had been made during the visit of the Lokayukta N. Venkatachala to Hubli-Dharwad a few months ago.