Theft and vandalism plague the housing colonies constructed in the city under the much-publicised double bedroom housing project of the Telangana government.

More than 60,000 housing units at over 40 locations have been completed in all respects and ready for inauguration for close to two years now. The largest among these is the township at Kollur, where 15,660 dwelling units have been constructed in 117 blocks. Next is the one at Rampally, where over 6,000 units are ready.

At both locations, burglars and vandals are proving to be a major menace, say officials. At Kollur, underground cable worth ₹2 crore had gone missing, and had to be re-laid.

“Steel taps are the easy targets, and attempts to steal them resulted in pipelines getting damaged at several places. We had to replace all the steel taps with plastic ones. Battery sets of generators and parts of elevators too are getting stolen,” shared an official from GHMC.

Though GHMC is paying the contractors for engaging security round-the-clock, it is proving futile.

“There are 15,660 units, 117 elevators and equal number of generators at Kollur township. How can a couple of guards keep watch on such vast areas? Unless we hand the units over to the beneficiaries, it is difficult to protect them,” says the official, estimating that at the time of handover, GHMC may have to spend about ₹50-100 crore merely on repairs and replacements.

Construction work has been halted at the remaining locations owing to non-payment of bills to contractors, officials say. Payments to the tune of ₹150 crore are still pending, while the agencies are demanding revision of contracted rates citing cost escalation over the years.