The Cooperation department has constructed 114 houses for the victims of last year’s devastating flood who lost their homes in Pathanamthitta district.
The department has undertaken the housing scheme for the poor flood victims under its Care Home project. The State government has sanctioned ₹5 lakh each for constructing the houses and the fund was transferred to the beneficiaries in a phased manner, says the Care Home nodal officer, M.G. Prameela.
The rehabilitation of the flood victims who have lost their homes was carried out under two schemes. The affected people could either collect the financial relief from the government and construct the house at their own responsibility or let the Government agency to undertake the construction work.
Though the total area of each house has been fixed at 500 sq ft, this was exceeded to beyond 600 sq ft in many cases. In such cases, the affected people too have made contributions to the construction work. Ms Prameela said the beneficiaries of the housing project has been identified on the basis of the extent of damage to their homes. Those houses with 75% and above damage have been treated as totally lost.
Reconstruction of those houses with 30% damage was carried out only after a detailed inspection of the site, Ms Prameela said. She said the department has identified 64 sponsors in the district for constructing the houses through various cooperative societies.
Strength assured
Ms Prameela said the Care Homes had been designed to outlive the natural disasters. Special care has been taken to ensure stability and strength of the structure. She said each house had been provided with basic facilities like drinking water, electricity, sanitation, waste disposal facility, etc.
A small flower garden and vegetable garden too have been provided to all these homes.