Chennai: Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa has sought Central Government assistance for construction of permanent houses for families, who lost their homes in the floods in the state. In a letter sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, Jayalalithaa said, “You are personally aware of the devastation caused by the recent floods in Tamil Nadu, including in Chennai. Among people affected by the flood, poor and vulnerable sections were worst affected in both urban and rural areas. They lost their huts and dwelling along with all their household belongings.”
The government has undertaken enumerating the families, which suffered destruction of huts and loss of household articles. It has also been paying immediate ex-gratia payments to the affected people from disaster response funds. However, this does not permanently rehabilitate them or enable a reconstruction of their dwelling places, she said.
The state government has identified about 50,000 families living along the banks of the Adyar, Cooum rivers and the Buckingham Canal who require alternative housing. Of these, the state government would accommodate 25,000 families in tenements already constructed and under construction by the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board and the process will commence in two weeks.
This would be completed in a year. The government has proposed to construct 50,000 multi-storeyed tenements at a cost of Rs 5,000 crore in various places. The central government may sanction a special scheme to construct the 50,000 houses for urban poor, who required to be resettled from water courses and water bodies.
Jayalalithaa has also sought Rs 750 crore for construction of 50,000 houses for the families residing in slums that does not require relocation. Also, over 1 lakh huts were either partially or fully damaged in floods in Cuddalore, Tiruvallur, Kanchipuram and Thoothukudi districts. Jayalalithaa urged the Central Government to give nod to construct 1 lakh additional houses under the Indira Awaas Yojana at an enhanced Rs 1.5 lakh per house to enable the state to construct permanent houses. She also requested Modi to instruct the Union ministry of housing and urban poverty alleviation and the Union ministry of rural development to accord additional special sanctions to enable the state government to construct houses.
Download the all new Deccan Chronicle app for Android and iOS to stay up-to-date with latest headlines and news stories in politics, entertainment, sports, technology, business and much more from India and around the world.
