KOZHIKODE: The District Development Committee and the district panchayat have demanded that the State Government speed up rehabilitation in landslip-hit Mauthongara, Chakkittapara and Vavilumpara villages.

While the committee wants the Government to pay interim relief to the victims of the calamity, the panchayat is demanding a special package for affected farmers in the hilly regions of these villages.

Members of the two bodies met separately at the District Collectorate here on Friday and Saturday.

The committee said the Government was not efficiently executing the rehabilitation programmes, though three weeks had passed since the disaster took place. Communist Party of India (Marxist) district secretary T.P. Ramakrishnan, Perambra MLA, brought the issue to the attention of the committee.

The Communist Party of India leader Binoy Viswom, Nadapuram MLA, demanded an action plan for landslide-prone areas of the district.

A coordinated effort of the Centre for Earth Science Studies, the Geological Survey of India and the Department of Mining and Geology was needed to avert such tragedies, he said.

Additional District Magistrate P. Koyakutty presided over the meeting of the committee. The MLAs C.K. Nanu, A.C. Shanmughadas, T.P.M. Zahir, V.K.C. Mammed Koya, U.C. Raman and C. Mammutty, District Planning Officer N. Radhakrishnan and other officials were present.

District panchayat president M.K. Nalini, who presided over the meeting, adopted a resolution seeking additional compensation from the Government for families whose houses had been destroyed to help them buy land and build houses. K.P. Kunhahamed Kutty, panchayat member, raised the issue at the meeting. Jose Kadambanad supported the resolution.

The landslips claimed the life of Kalyani of Pannikkottor Colony at Chakkittapara. Nearly 50 houses were destroyed and another 95 partially damaged. As many as 99 families were staying in seven makeshift camps.

The landslips severely damaged crops in the hilly regions. As many as 2,500 coconut trees, 7,000 areca palms, 10,000 pepper vines, 1,000 cashew trees, 12,000 banana plants and 1,000 cocoa plants were destroyed, according to an estimate of the Department of Agriculture.

Official put the loss at Rs. 2.75 crores. Crops were destroyed in 72 hectares of land. Nearly 750 farmers suffered losses.

The District panchayat felt that the compensation was meagre. The families who had their houses destroyed were paid Rs. 30,000 each. Those will partially damaged houses got Rs. 5,000 each.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail