The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Temporary shelters for fisherfolk along Marina

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Tuesday, Apr 07, 2009
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Temporary shelters for fisherfolk along Marina

K. Lakshmi

They will stay in shelters until houses are allotted to them

— Photo: S.S.Kumar

AD-HOCK DWELLING: Temporary shelters which are under construction in Nochikuppam.

CHENNAI: Construction of temporary shelters by the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board for thousands of fisher families in Nochikuppam and Srinivasapuram has begun. They would stay in the shelters until houses are allotted to them under the Emergency Tsunami Reconstruction Project.

Nearly 3,600 temporary shelters are being built in clusters along the road near the Marina to house the families who at present live in dilapidated slum tenements in the same localities. Reconstruction of the 30-year-old tenements has been a long-pending demand of the residents of Nochikuppam, Doomingkuppam and Srinivasapuram.

Each family would be allotted a temporary shelter spread across 100 sq.ft. until the new tenements are constructed. A common public convenience would be built for the residents.

Once the work to construct temporary shelters was completed by May, the families would be shifted to the space and the existing tenements demolished.

TNSCB’s Managing Director T. K. Ramachandran told The Hindu that the World Bank-assisted project sought to rehabilitate people affected by tsunami. “We are spending about Rs.3,000 per shelter. They would be dismantled after the residents move into the new tenements. We cannot retain the shelters as they are being built on the area reserved for open space reservation land,” he said.

The residents were given two other options — shift to Okkiam Thoraipakkam or receive a monthly compensation of Rs.1,000 for 18 months — until construction of the new tenements is completed. However, most of the families decided to stay in the temporary shelters, Mr. Ramachandran said.

Tenders have been floated for constructing about 6,000 flats and the project schedule is 14 months. Each tenement would be built at a cost of Rs.4 lakh. The delay in implementing the project was due to enumeration process of the beneficiaries, he added.

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