The Hindu : Kerala News : Compensation for tsunami victims

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Tuesday, Apr 19, 2005

Kerala

Kerala

Compensation for tsunami victims

Staff Reporter

Special Lok Adalat organised by KELSA

KOCHI: The special Lok Adalats organised by the Kerala State Legal Services Authority (KELSA) for tsunami victims have so far awarded a total of Rs.1.20 crores as compensation to victims in Kollam and Alappuzha districts.

The compensation was awarded at the last three sittings held at the districts. In Arattupuzha panchayat in Alappuzha district, the adalat had awarded a total compensation of Rs. 56.89 lakhs in as many as 1,329 cases while in Kollam, a total compensation of Rs.63.58 lakhs had been awarded, the member-secretary of the KELSA, U. Sarathachandran, told The Hindu.

He said that in most of the complaints received at the special adalats, the victims sought compensation for damages caused to their houses and fishing equipment lost during the tsunami.

The adalats are still gong on. The secretary said that compensations were awarded after getting the inspection report of the village officer concerned. If the village officer concerned gave the adalats a report saying that the grievances of the victims were genuine, compensation were immediately awarded after quantifying the loss or damages. In cases where the revenue officials contested the demands of the victims, the adalats would persuade them to approach civil courts.

He said that when the first special adalat was held, there had been some teething problems. This was because it was for the first time that adalats were being held for the people affected by a natural calamity. However, they had been able to get over the problem soon.

One of the problems was that the Government departments such as fisheries did not respond to the notices sent by the adalats in the first instance. Later, the department started cooperating with the adalats after he wrote a letter to the Chief Secretary, he said.

The secretary said that the adalats were being organised as per Section 12 of the Legal Services Authorities Act. According to the Section, adalats could be conducted for the victims of natural calamities.

He said that the number of applications received from the victims had now swelled to around 4,000 in Alappuzha and 2,000 in Kollam. Adalats had been conducted in Kozhikode and Kannur districts also.

The Ernakulam district legal services authority had received about 80 complaints.

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