Thiruvananthapuram: Residents of Thumba near here have approached Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with a memorandum accusing the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) of failure to rehabilitate the families that were displaced to establish the unit 40 years back, according to an agency report from New Delhi.

In a letter to Dr. Singh, the residents claimed that the space facility had not honoured its promise to provide jobs to all the evicted families or provide alternative houses.

Noting that the residents were promised jobs to suit their qualification, they claimed that the displacement for the project had affected the livelihood of hundreds of people.

The alternative job plan had not `fully' materialised, they observed.

"About 400 families have not yet been provided employment or rehabilitation... we request you to kindly give adequate direction to the authorities to provide further employment and rehabilitation without delay," the letter said.

Fishing nets damaged

The memorandum pointed out that the operations in the units were affecting the life of people, predominantly from the fishermen community, as rocket boosters used in the units were damaging fishing nets and making fishing impossible in the areas neighbouring the VSSC.

The construction of a sea wall near the unit has caused erosion and emission of hazardous fumes has polluted air and water, the letter said.

The residents also requested the Prime Minister to announce a group insurance scheme for the people living near the unit.

According to T. Peter, State president of the Kerala Swathatra Matsya Thozhilali Federation, successive Governments have failed to address the issues raised by the residents.

"A major portion of the shore near the VSSC unit at Valiaveli has been planted with casuarina trees and protected by a sea wall. This has led to intensified erosion on the leeward side of the protected area where fishermen reside," he says.

Mr. Peter points out that about 300 families in the Pallithura area are yet to receive rehabilitation, decades after they were displaced for the project.

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