Tamil Nadu - Tirunelveli   

Tsunami victims move to permanent houses

Staff Reporter

Each house with an area of 325 sq.ft. has been constructed at a cost of Rs. 2 lakhs with all facilities

HAPPY MOMENT: The Kanyakumari Collector, Sunil Paliwal, handing over the key of a permanent house to a beneficiary at Keezha Muttom on Saturday.

TIRUNELVELI: The Kanyakumari Collector, Sunil Paliwal, on Saturday handed over keys of 170 permanent houses constructed at Keezha Muttom village for the people, who lost their homes and belongings when tsunami devastated this small coastal hamlet on December 26 last.

While 100 houses have been constructed at the same place where the fishermen lived before the killer waves struck, the remaining houses have been built at a separate place, for which 3.25 acres of land was acquired.

Each house with the area of 325 sq.ft. has been constructed at the cost of Rs. 2 lakhs with all facilities. Concealed pipelines are in place and the dwellers have to just get permission from the local panchayat for drinking water connection. Two non-governmental organisations - Intervida and SIFFS - have completed the construction of these houses.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Paliwal said 2,600 permanent houses were under construction in the district for the people, who lost their belongings and loved-ones in the disaster. Apart from this, 900 permanent houses were being constructed for the people, who were living within 40 feet from the seashore and facing sea erosion whenever the sea became rough.

"The district administration has handed over 110 acres of land to the NGOs for the construction of permanent houses for tsunami victims. The construction of 1,083 permanent houses will be completed soon and the beneficiaries settled in these houses before December 26. The construction of remaining permanent houses will be completed before March 2006," Mr. Paliwal said.

Once the tsunami victims, now settled at temporary shelters, are shifted to the permanent houses, the construction materials of the temporary shelters would be auctioned as per the norms prescribed by the Government.

The Collector, who became so popular among the residents of Kanyakumari district for having expedited rescue and rehabilitation activities after the `Black Sunday', thanked the Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, for giving him an opportunity to serve the people of Kanyakumari district, who suffered huge loss.

The district administration has decided to establish the tsunami-ravaged Muttom as a `Model Village' so that this hamlet would get more financial assistance from the State Government, which can be utilised for carrying out more development activities in this coastal hamlet, Mr. Paliwal said.

After handing over the keys of the houses, Mr. Paliwal visited some of the newly built permanent houses and interacted with the beneficiaries, who expressed satisfaction over the construction of their homes.

The Additional Collector, G. Prakash, the Director, Intervida, Samir, and others participated.

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