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Work on houses for tsunami-hit fishermen to begin soon

Rajesh Nair

36 hectares of land in 14 locations acquired in Karaikal

PONDICHERRY: The construction of permanent houses for the tsunami-affected fishermen in the Union Territory will start shortly. The dwelling units are likely to come up first in the Karaikal region, where the Government has already acquired land.

"Thirty-six hectares of land has been acquired in 14 locations and land documents have already been handed over to two non-governmental organisations. One of the NGOs is in the process of tendering the work to builders," a senior official told The Hindu. "Our calculations are that the work will start by next month."

However, the Government is finding it difficult to carry forward the process in Pondicherry. So far, it has identified fifteen hectares of land in five locations in the southern part. In the fishing villages along the East Coast Road in the north, two factors act as a stumbling block: not much open land available in the 500-m limit and opposition from a particular caste in accommodating the fishing community anywhere near their houses.

Not for tenements

The fishermen are also opposed to the idea of living in tenements.

"As there are constraints in building individual houses in the north of Pondicherry due to non-availability of land, we suggested constructing tenements.

But it has not found favour. They want individual houses," he said.

Local legislators are holding parleys with the fishing community on the issue.

Initially, 49 NGOs showed interest in taking up the construction of permanent houses.

But the number dwindled to nine after the Government came out with guidelines for the NGOs taking part in the process.

While the Maharashtra Government has also agreed to construct a large number of houses, the territorial administration is yet to decide on how the State can be involved in the process.

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