PONDICHERRY
Building for the future...
RAJESH NAIR
|
... though the mark of devastation is still visible
|
FIRM FOUNDATION: At Manadapathur in Karaikal, where the rebuilding houses is on in full swing. PHOTO: T. SINGARAVELOU
The people of the 33 affected villages in Pondicherry are making every effort to leave behind the bad memories. Rehabilitation measures, both by the Government and the non-government agencies, are on to create new lives for those who lost everything dear to them.
The tsunami affected 44,400 people, more than 90 per cent of them fishermen, killed 601 people, around 87 per cent of them children and women, and damaged 8,000 houses in the Union Territory.
The mark of devastation is still visible in the villages.
Karaikal bore the brunt of the devastating waves and accounted for 494 deaths. Among the 36 still missing, 31 are from Karaikal. In Pattinacherry, the worst affected village in the Union Territory, 164 people died, including 87 children.
It took about a month for the people to return to their villages from the 48 relief camps set up by the administration. By June, fishing activity resumed in most villages after the Government distributed grants ranging from Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 4.5 lakhs.
The Government also gave an ex-gratia of Rs. 1 lakh each to of the families of the deceased, Rs. 5,000 for funeral expenses, Rs. 10,000 as housing subsidy.
Most of the expenditure was met through the Central assistance of Rs. 70.83 crores and Rs. 100 crores given for relief and restoration of livelihood. Apart from this, more than Rs. 10 crores was collected for tsunami relief.
Policy for rehabilitation
The Government came out with a policy for permanent rehabilitation through Government-NGO participation.
Agreements were reached with 12 NGOs and the Government of Maharashtra to construct 4,947 houses. Though 78 NGOs proposed to participate in the process, many withdrew after Government insisted they deposit 25 per cent of the project cost. Except in the coastal villages in north Pondicherry, land acquisition for rehabilitation of fishermen has been completed.
"A committee has been formed to facilitate the process," B.V. Selvaraj, Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner told The Hindu.
The construction of around 500 houses in Pannithittu, Pudukuppam and Mandapathur has been completed. Another 2,000 are in various stages of completion. The entire process will be completed in three years.
The Government formed a Project Implementation Agency to rebuild infrastructure using the Rs. 4.2 crores received from the World Bank as a soft loan. The money will be used to construct houses after a final decision on NGO participation is taken, he said.
TSUNAMI A YEAR AFTER
