The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Over 50,000 huts along the coast vulnerable

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 22, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Over 50,000 huts along the coast vulnerable

Special Correspondent

Of these, 22,000 are within the 200-metre mark from the high tide line

EVALUATING PROGRESS: Finance Minister K.Anbazhagan chairing a review meeting of the tsunami relief and rehabilitation projects being implemented with loan/grant assistance from the World Bank/Asian Development Bank at the Secretariat on Wednesday. Ch ief Secretary L.K. Tripathy and Local Administration Minister M.K. Stalin are in the picture. — Photo: V. Ganesan

CHENNAI: Over 50,000 huts along the Tamil Nadu coast are vulnerable during adverse weather conditions, a State Government survey has found. Of these, 22,000 are within the 200-metre mark from the high tide line and the rest within a kilometre.

Work has begun on strengthening shelters within the 200-metre mark with funds under the Rajiv Gandhi tsunami relief scheme, a Central Government project.

A meeting of the high-level steering committee to review the progress of tsunami relief and rehabilitation, chaired by Finance Minister K. Anbazhagan at the Secretariat, found that while the Asian Development Bank-funded project for strengthening of shelters and provision of infrastructure had made considerable progress, the World Bank project funding was yet to be utilised to any significant extent.

The World Bank had initially sanctioned a loan for rehabilitation of the tsunami-affected, based on the State Government's initial projections. But the projections were far higher than the actual damage. Since the World Bank had committed the money, the State had approached it for using the money to address issues of vulnerability along the coast. This was not just a housing project; it also included evacuation routes and building of bridges where none existed, said an official. The Government was confident of the Bank's approval.

The meeting also noted that a major portion of the funds allocated remained unspent. Though eight departments were in charge of spending the money under the various tsunami schemes, only those under Local Administration Minister M.K. Stalin (Rural Development and Municipal Administration) that had spent the maximum. Together, they had spent 95 per cent of the money allocated, officials said.

A majority of the permanent houses for the tsunami affected will be ready by October-end. The total number of houses to be constructed was 54,620 all along the State's coast. Of these, 38,620 will be ready by October-end. Nearly 30,000 units have already been completed, and a majority handed over to beneficiaries.

This leaves an additional 16,000 houses/slum board tenements to be built. This will take another year to be completed, according to officials.

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