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No takers for Kuttanad package

The failed Rs 1,840 crore scheme is not yet a campaign point in the region

ALAPPUZHA: The failed Rs 1,840-crore Kuttanad package, launched in September 2010 for the overall development of the region and its people, is not yet a campaign point here. Even the basic activities like strengthening of outer-bunds of paddy polders are not done, making the flood situation worse as cultivation is carried out in approximately 37,000 hectares of land, of which outer-bunds shield 15,000.

The initial works of Rs 1,100 crore are under the irrigation department and a revised estimate of Rs 3,699 crore is now with the Centre for its approval. The total revised expenditure now stands at Rs 4,669 crore - a three-fold increase.

Fr. Thomas Peeliyanickal, executive director of Kuttanad Vikasana Samithy (KVS), an NGO, says politicians have no interest in it even during elections. “People of Kuttanad have simply lost their hope. If you talk about a word on the package, they will laugh it out. They know politicians and officials are playing cat and mouse,” he said.

“The irrigation department used to undertake strengthening of outer-bunds and construction of sidewalls on small canals before the package announced. Now it has become a reason for grave concern of people of Kuttanad.”

Meanwhile, LDF candidate and sitting MLA of Kuttanad, Thomas Chandy, blames the UDF government for the collapse of the ambitious project. “We are trying to convince people,” he said. Sheela Sajiv, president of the Kainakary grama panchayat, the worst affected by the floods, says, “The package is in doldrums. People are not interested in discussing it anymore.”

( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
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