The State government has announced a ₹1,700-crore project for the construction of one lakh concrete houses with a unit cost of ₹1.70 lakh to replace damaged huts in the districts affected by Cyclone Gaja.
The Centre is expected to contribute ₹720 crore, and the State’s share of ₹980 crore would be raised as debt through the Tamil Nadu Rural Housing and Infrastructure Development Corporation, Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam told the Assembly.
Other housing schemes
Besides, a total of one lakh houses will be built under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY-Gramin), and the unit cost approved by the Centre is ₹1.20 lakh, which is to be shared between the Centre and the State in the ratio of 60:40.
“As in the past, 20,000 houses will be constructed under the Chief Minister’s Solar Powered Green Houses Scheme, for which ₹420 crore has been provided in the Budget Estimates,” Mr. Panneerselvam said.
A sum of ₹786 crore was provided in the Budget Estimates for calamity relief under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), and the Centre had sanctioned ₹900.31 crore from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) for temporary restoration work to mitigate the impact of the cyclone.
A sum of ₹2,361.41 crore was sanctioned for implementing temporary restoration measures, of which ₹774.13 crore was allocated for crop damage, ₹577.46 crore for gratuitous relief, ₹401.50 crore for damage to huts and houses and ₹41.63 crore towards compensation for damage to fishing boats.
As a special measure, the State government would take up permanent flood mitigation work, including the regrading of the lower Paravanar river, the setting up of a flood diversion canal from the Aruvalmooku stretch in Kurinjipadi taluk and the construction of a flood regulator across the Coleroon near Perampattu in Chidambaram taluk.