TN unveils massive rehabilitation package for tsunami hit

Chennai, June 24: Unveiling a massive rehabilitation package for the tsunami victims in 13 districts in Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister M Karunanidhi today said his government would spend Rs 1,000 crore this year for tsunami rehabilitation.

Talking to newspersons after presiding over a tsunami review meeting with the Collectors of the affected districts at the Secretariat here, he said the government would accord priority for construction of permanent houses for the victims, utilising the fund.

He said funds to the tune of Rs 4897.37 crore was made available to the state. But the previous government had spent only Rs 806.37 crore, he charged.

''Hence we have decided to allocate Rs 1,000 crore, which will be utilised during the next nine months,'' he said. This included Rs 160 crore from World Bank and Rs 320 crore from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), he added.

Mr Karunanidhi said it was a pity that even one and a half years after the natural calamity, the affected people who had lost their houses, were still accommodated in temporary shelters.

The construction of houses would be taken up mainly during this year, he said, adding a senior officer would be deputed to the Centre to obtain central coastal zone certificate for constructing houses off the coastline.

He said a Government order has been issued to exempt mandatory approval from town and country planning for the construction of tsunami shelters in the affected areas. All the district collectors have been told to shift those accomodated in temporary shelters before the onset of monsoon.

Mr Karunanidhi said it was proposed to construct 20,000 houses within 200 metres of the shore and 50,000 houses between 200 metres and one kilometre for the tsunami victims and all these houses would be built by 2008. Chief Secretary L K Tripathy, who was present in the meeting, said about 36,000 houses in the affected areas were nearing completion, while 8,000 houses had been already repaired.

Mr Karunanidhi said due to the time-lag in land acquisition, there had been some delay in building houses and it was decided in today's meeting that if necessary, a new law could be enacted to tackle the problem.

Earlier, addressing the review meeting, the chief minister directed the collectors to complete construction of houses by the year end, utilising the allocation of Rs 1,000 crore.

Pointing out that relief measures had still not reached the victims in full, Mr Karunanidhi said of the Rs 2347.19 crore sanctioned by the Centre under the Rajiv Gandhi Rehabilitation Scheme, only Rs 731 crore had been spent and there was still scope for stepping up the relief measures.

Though the fishermen had been provided with boats and nets, still, they could be given ice boxes, safety equipments and refrigerators with the approval of the Centre, the chief minister suggested.

UNI