Work on 55 houses for flood victims nearing completion

The construction work of 55 of the total 770 houses for those who have lost their homes in the flood is in the completion stage, Deputy Commissioner Annies Kanmani Joy said on Saturday.

She told reporters at her office that the construction work of 770 houses is in different stages of construction and Rs 9.85 lakh was spent on each house, she added.

“Around 414 houses are being constructed in the first phase and 242 victims have voluntarily come forward to construct houses on their own. We had written a letter to the government seeking financial assistance for these victims,” she said.

She said that houses being built in Jamburu Made and Karnangeri villages will be handed over to the victims before the onset of monsoon. The land was handed over to Infosys Foundation to construct houses for 83 families in Jamburu, she explained.

“Another organisation had volunteered to construct houses and we are writing to the government in this regard,” she added.

“According to a report submitted by Revenue Department officials on the basis of their spot inspections, 501 houses were severely damaged and 662 houses were partially damaged. But an inspection by a third party revealed that 414 houses are severely damaged. An inspection of the partially damaged houses will be conducted again,” the DC said.

A compensation of Rs 6.31 crore was disbursed to 1,045 families who had lost their houses. About Rs 4.29 crore was disbursed to 2,871 families whose houses had been partially damaged.

Natural calamity victims staying in rented houses were being provided with a rent allowance of Rs 10,000. An amount of Rs 44.35 crore was released from the Chief Minister’s relief fund for rebuilding state highways and district main roads.

“About 51 out of the 81 works, which had received administrative approval, had been completed. A sum of Rs 10.28 crore was released by the district administration for the repair of Anganwadi, school buildings and stormwater drains. The works will be carried out by Panchayat Raj Engineering Department,” she said.

Crops on 7,109 hectares of land were destroyed. About 695 hectares of land was submerged in silt. Horticultural crops in 68,092 hectares of land were destroyed. Cauvery Irrigation Corporation had released an amount of Rs 75 crore to remove silt from Harangi river, she said.