Sorurce : The Hindu Date : 17.06.2009
Construction work on 19,765 disaster-resistant houses begins
Special Correspondent
| Part of plan to reduce vulnerability of coastal communities |
— Photo: S.R. Raghunathan 
TAKING STOCK: (From left) Revenue Minister I. Periyasamy, Finance Minister K. Anbazhagan, Deputy Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, Agriculture Minister Veerapandi S. Arumugam and PWD Minister Durai Murugan at a meeting to review World Bank projects, at the Secretariat in Chennai on Tuesday.
CHENNAI: Construction of 19,765 disaster-resistant houses in the coastal districts of the State has begun, Finance Minister K. Anbazhagan said here on Tuesday. Work on 1,976 houses had been completed.
This is part of a two-phase project to build 41,411 houses to reduce the vulnerability of coastal communities. A total of 11,539 houses covered under the Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) is part of the overall figure.
In the initial phase, the government sanctioned the construction of 24,411 houses at a cost of Rs.772 crore under the Rajiv Gandhi Rehabilitation Package. Of these, 18,056 houses will be built by the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department and 3,585 houses by the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board.
In the second phase, 17,000 houses will be built with World Bank assistance, Mr. Anbazhagan told a State-level steering committee meeting.
Giving an account of tsunami relief and rehabilitation works, he said that in the first phase 39,684 houses had been constructed as on May 31 and 37,904 of them handed over to beneficiaries. Of these houses, 30,302 were built with the help of non-governmental organisations and 9,382 houses by the government. A sum of Rs.268.46 crore was spent on providing basic amenities for these houses. The Minister reiterated the government’s plan to construct multi-storeyed tenements at Oggiyam Thoraipakkam-Kannagi Nagar, Tiruvottiyur, Semmanjeri and Thazhankuppam for tsunami-hit people. The dilapidated multi-storeyed tenements between Nochikuppam and Srinivasapuram would be demolished and, in their place 5,856 new tenements constructed.
As for other infrastructure works, 90 per cent of the restoration work on Cuddalore and Nagapattinam harbours had been carried out. In all, works to the tune of Rs.5,074.09 crore were being implemented in 13 tsunami-hit costal districts under various projects, drawing funds from different sources and multilateral agencies. In three years, works involving expenditure of Rs.1,175 crore have been completed, Mr. Anbazhagan said. Among those who attended the meeting were M.K. Stalin, Deputy Chief Minister; Durai Murugan, Veerapandi S. Arumugam, and I. Periasamy, Ministers; K.S. Sripathi, Chief Secretary; and N. Sundaradevan, Principal Secretary/Commissioner, Revenue Administration.
