KOCHI: Several rehabilitation measures including construction of seawall and facilities for rainwater harvesting are soon to be implemented in the tsunami-hit area of Edavanakadu.

This was announced by the Fisheries Minister, Dominic Presentation, while receiving the keys of 18 houses constructed by Mata Amritanandamayi Math at Edavanakadu today.

These are the first houses to be constructed for the tsunami victims in the country, claimed the officials.

The Cabinet has cleared the proposal for constructing a seawall spending Rs. 289 lakhs and the project will be tendered next week. The seawall will be completed before the onset of monsoon, Mr. Dominic said.

The Fisheries Department will support setting up of rainwater harvesting units for addressing the supply of drinking water in the area and each such unit will get a financial assistance to the tune of Rs.10,000. Priority will be given to projects that are to be set up for fishermen, he said.

The State Government has also sanctioned three roads in the Edavanakadu area.

The Math completed the houses within one month of obtaining the land and each dwelling unit costs around Rs. 2 lakh. The houses exceeded the cost fixed by the State Government as the Math wanted them to be perfect in all aspects, said Brahmachari Arunkumar, who supervised the construction of the houses.

Power connection

Though the electrification of the houses has been completed, they are yet to get power and water connection and the State Government is to take a decision in this regard, he said.

The surroundings of the housing units have been cleaned up and dredged sand was laid in and around all the housing units. The Math has also dug three borewells for the houses, Mr. Arunkumar said.

In his report, the District Collector, A.P.M. Mohammed Hanish, hoped that the construction of all the 244 houses for the tsunami victims would be complete by May 31.

Earlier, the State Government had fixed a deadline of March 31 for the completion of the houses.

The State Government has shelled out Rs. 5 crore for various relief operations in the district. Seawalls would be constructed from West Chellanam to Chittattukara Panchayat and the restoration of pipe and power lines and roads will also be completed soon.

The construction of houses by various other groups will be completed by this month end. The administration will disburse financial assistance to 4,800 families to build houses that were partially damaged in the tsunami attack, Mr. Hanish said.

M.A. Kuttappan, MLA, presided over the meeting.

V. D. Satheesan, MLA; Antony Isaac, chairman, Greater Cochin Development Authority; C.M. Devassy, president, Vypeen Block panchayat; Swami Poornamritanandapuri of the Math, K.R. Viswambharan, Director, Rubber marketing Federation; Johnson K. George, Additional District Magistrate; Mini Antony, Fort Kochi Revenue Divisional Officer, and K. Subhash, vice-president of the Ernakulam district Panchayat, attended.

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