Agreement on revised Emergency Tsunami Reconstruction Project signed

Chennai, Aug 13 (ANI): An agreement relating to the revised "Emergency Tsunami Reconstruction Project" was signed on Thursday in Chennai.

The agreement was signed by the Union Government, the World Bank, Tamil Nadu Government, and the Union Territory of Puducherry.

The agreement for the Emergency Tsunami Reconstruction Project for Tamil Nadu and Puducherry was signed with the World Bank on May 12, 2005.

Out of the approximate 465 million dollar aid, Tamil Nadu will receive 423 million dollars, while Puducherry will get 42 million dollars.

Anup K. Pujari, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Finance signed the agreement on behalf of the Union Government, the other signatories were Rachid Benmessaoud, Operations Advisor, on behalf of the World Bank, Dr. B. Sundaradevan, Principal Secretary of Revenue Administration on behalf of Tamil Nadu Government and Ragesh Chandra, Project Director (ERTP) on behalf of Union Territory of Puducherry.

The project has now been amended and a new component namely, "Vulnerability Reduction of Coastal Communities" is added to the ongoing project.

The objective of the revised Project is to assist the borrower and the project states to revive livelihood and promote recovery in the Tsunami affected areas in the short-term.

It also aims to reduce the vulnerability of coastal communities to a range of natural hazards such as cyclone, storm surge, flood and tsunami over the long-term. (ANI)