Chennai, Dec. 25:
Velavan (25), a fisherman from Sothikuppam, an islet near Cuddalore,
has given over 100 representations to the authorities seeking housing
for 113 fisher folk living in his village. He was asking for what was
promised by the state government three years ago when the tsunami
washed out all their belongings and took away some of their kith and
kin forever. No authorities have visited them yet.
Ranjitham (65) of Periyavilai near Manavalakurichi in Kanyakumari
district lives in a temporary shelter after the house allotted to her
family collapsed in the recent rains. Lakshmi (30), of Nagapattinam
complains of having to use the "open-air" toilet for the last three
years as the temporary shelter she lives in has no toilet.
The question of housing for the tsunami-affected in Tamil Nadu is still
unresolved even after three years of the disaster. Soon after the
tsunami, it was planned by the state and relief agencies to construct
55,228 houses for those affected in the first phase.
According to official statistics, so far, NGOs have completed the
construction of 24,544 houses against the targeted 33,226 and the
government has completed 5,346 houses against its target of 22,002,
leaving nearly 16,000 families with just the promise of a shelter.
S.M. Prithviraj, whose organisation, Voices from the Margins, organised
a people’s tribunal to look into the progress of tsunami rehabilitation
efforts throughout the state said that 5,000 tsunami-affected homeless
families were not categorised as "beneficiaries" by either the state or
the NGOs due to procedural problems such as lack of certificates and
ration-cards to prove that they had lived on those beaches.
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