Incomplete community centre near Raghunath Nagar UP School under ward No. 59. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, March 3: Hopes of family members of Kalu Sahu in Raghunath Nagar was dashed to the ground along with the demolition of their old house as they were under the impression that they would be living in a concrete house as promised by the civic authorities.

The family, residing in ward No. 59 under the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) razed their old house and waited for the new structure to come up. The house, however, is still half constructed and the family of six is now living inside a tent braving rain, winter and summer.

There are many others who share Sahu’s fate in Raghunath Nagar. M. Tunu, a bandmaster and Bidyadhar Pradhan, a mason, are also share a similar fate. The reason — the executing agency for the houses to be constructed for the urban poor in ward No. 59 is not completing the houses on time. “There maybe more than 150 such families affected by the delay in the construction of houses under the central scheme for the Basic Services for Urban Poor (BSUP),’’ alleged Sahu.

“The people of the agency one day say that rods are not available, while another day they look for some other excuse. Some even ask us to deposit Rs 18,000 as beneficiary as his share,’’ added Sahu. The centre and the civic body contribute around Rs 2 lakh for each house. Ward councillor Chhabi Das said the delay in providing houses to the poor has upset the people in all the other pockets of the area such as Suka Vihar, Satyanagar, Sashtri Nagar, Barabari and Rahmad Nagar.

“All the people had demolished their houses with the hope that they will get concrete dwelling units under the scheme by paying the beneficiary share in instalments for the BSUP units, but as the work is progressing slowly, they are disgusted. Many are living in temporary shelters with gown-up children for last nine to 11 months. I have already informed the senior BMC officials in this regard,’’ said Das.

“The BSUP not only promises houses but also infrastructure facilities such as community centres for the people of the area. So the executing agency should also construct five community centres in five localities. But after six months, work has come up only to the plinth level,” she added. Under BSUP there is also a provision that a person can also take the assistance and construct a house on his own, but generally the poor people go for the option where the executing agency constructs houses for them. While they have to pay a nominal charge, the rest amount comes as grant from the centre and the local civic body. Apart from the six pockets meant for the urban poor, around 1,500 plots were also granted in Jadupur and Dumduma in ward No. 59 to the urban poor. The plots were given by the state government to rehabilitate the urban poor in the past after evicting them from slums in the city.

BMC slum improvement officer, Dillip Kumar Routrai admitted that there was some delay by the executing agency employed by the urban local body.

“In fact, in ward No. 59 the BMC had a plan to construct 753 houses under BSUP. But finally 400 were actually taken up as many owners passed away and there were changes in the list. We are now planning to add more people from the nearby Jadupur in the list. However, from the remaining houses only 200 are being developed by the executing agency. We are seriously looking into the issue and will take steps soon to provide the dwelling units to the beneficiaries,’’ said Routrai.