Why did Habitat back off from Life Mission project?

Thiruvananthapuram: The government allegedly went out of its way to oust project management consultant Habitat from the Life Mission's housing project at Vadakkanchery in Thrissur.

Even after private company Unitac Builders had begun the construction works, this was not informed to Habitat.

Habitat backed off from the project on October 31, 2019, after it was informed that pre-fabrication technique would be used. However, Unitac Builders had begun the concrete construction work on August 29 itself.

Habitat, a Life Mission-approved agency, was the project management consultant for five districts, including Thrissur.

Habitat had revised the detailed project report on Vadakkanchery several times as demanded by the Mission.

Meanwhile the Life Mission on August 2, 2019 declared that the project was stalled indefinitely, citing issues related to sponsorship.

This was 22 days after signing the deal with the UAE-based Red Crescent Authority that offered Rs 20 crore for the project. During a meet held at the Life Mission office two months later, Habitat was informed that that pre-fab technique would be used.

Life Mission's engineering head, chief engineer, and Habitat projects' chief engineer took part in the meet. Habitat then withdrew from the project, citing that they had no expertise in this technique.

Estimated cost Rs 20 crore

The Life Mission had estimated that the construction cost of the housing project at Vadakkanchery would come up to Rs 20 crore based on the proposal submitted by Unitac, authorities have said. However, questions remain on how the project will meet the quality standards despite Rs 4.24 crore from this amount being given as commission.

The Life Mission claimed that the estimates of Unitac were not checked and instead the cost was calculated based on the plan submitted by the company.

One month after the MoU was signed with the Red Crescent on July 11, 2019, the draft plan for the project was submitted by Unitac on August 17 and 22. A team, including engineers, had checked that the plan was in accordance to the Life Mission's guidelines. Life Mission CEO sent an official confirmation to the Red Crescent on August 26 to go ahead with the project.

The Life Mission engineers are reportedly carrying out inspections to ascertain if the apartment complex is being constructed according to the guidelines. When a huge amount is deducted as commission, then doubts are raised about the futility of the inspection.

As the Life Mission is not directly involved in the construction, work order was not issued.

Authorities conceded that pre-fab technique was chosen for the Life Mission's housing projects. However, as the Red Crescent was ready to construct the building for free, they did not specify on this aspect.