The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Tsunami houses: pat for NGO’s efforts in Nagapattinam district

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Dec 22, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Tsunami houses: pat for NGO’s efforts in Nagapattinam district

Special Correspondent

For adhering to government norms and using quality material

HOME SWEET HOME: A tsunami permanent house built by the DPG for fisherman at Vizhundamavadi in Nagapattinam district.

NAGAPATTINAM: The district administration and the NGO coordination resource centre here has appreciated the Development Promotion Group (DPG), a Chennai-based non-governmental organisation, for quality construction of permanent houses for the tsunami-affected people as per government norms.

Keeping in mind the NGO’s track record, the Government has entrusted to it the task of building another 170 houses in the district: 59 in the tsunami-hit Kameshwaram village and 111 at Vellapallam.

DPG’s chief executive officer R. Bhakther Solomon told The Hindu on Friday that the organisation was involved in rehabilitation and reconstruction activities in 12 villages in Nagapattinam and Tuticorin districts in Tamil Nadu and in Prakasam district in Andhra Pradesh in the last three years. The DPG had the credit of constructing 822 permanent houses spread over six villages in the two districts, out of which 652 were handed over to beneficiaries.

Foreign and Indian agencies voluntarily came forward to render service through the DPG not only to the fishermen community but also to motivate other affected communities to form self help groups. About Rs.28 crore was spent for relief and rehabilitation, he said.

“We took special efforts and used quality material for construction of permanent houses without minding the high cost. Each house was built in about 450 sq plinth area with all facilities and about Rs.2.75 lakh was spent on a house,” he said.

A community hall was built at Rs.27 lakh at Vizhundamavadi and two small halls at Mapillaioorani in Tuticorin district at a total cost of Rs.9 lakh.

The Church Development Services, Germany, and the Inter-Church Co-operation, the Netherlands, were major partners in carrying out rehabilitation work. Besides, many new partners, including Diakonie Emergency Aid, Christian Aid, Association of Asian Confederation of Credit Unions, Self Development of People, American India Foundation, Times Foundation, Indian Christian Organisation and UNESCAP, had associated themselves with the DPG in tsunami-related programmes, he said.

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