Panel to decide eligibility of families for rehab package

Thiruvananthapuram: The government will constitute a six member committee for cases where the eligibility of the beneficiaries could not be ascertained for compensation while implementing West Coast canal rehabilitation package from Kovalam to Varkala. The committee will have assistant executive engineer (inland navigation sub division) as chairman and the assistant engineer in charge of the canal reach as its convenor. It will also have representatives from Kerala Waterways and Infrastructures Limited (KWIL), local body, revenue department and a representative of MLA, as per the standard operating procedure approved by the state government.
The committee will examine all documents to ascertain the eligibility of each family and the final will be processed by KWIL. If the documents produced by the beneficiary are not sufficient for proving their status of residence on canal premises, then a letter issued by ward member/panchayat president/municipal chairperson/ corporation mayor/MLA in the official letterhead stating that the beneficiary is known to the authorities and that he/she has resided on canal premises for a specified time period and shall be included in the main list to be considered.
According to the SoP, the lists will cover the beneficiaries (list-1) eligible for WCC rehabilitation package, the shops (list-2) on the canal banks, the families residing on canal banks having title deeds (list-3) and the families (list-4) coming under doubtful category due to various reasons, including non-submission of required details such as ration card, issues pertaining to house number, issues such as having included in any other housing scheme of other departments, doubts of having possession of own house elsewhere but not disclosed by the beneficiary, or any other reasons restricting their inclusion in list-1.
The valuation process of buildings to be demolished as part of implementing the project will be modelled on National Highway Authority of India’s valuation process for development.
An amount equivalent to 10% of the valuation amount may be retained in the treasury savings bank account and remaining 90% of value may be released initially to the beneficiaries. As per the government order which was issued earlier, families can dismantle and take away the reusable part of the building and debris has to be cleared in a satisfactory manner from the canal premises. If the beneficiaries fail to comply with the same, the retained amount of 10% will be used for dismantling and clearing of debris, which will be done by the department.
Kerala waterways infrastructure limited will value the buildings and the chief engineer will authenticate the value. KWIL will submit the authenticated valuation reports within 14 days from the date of submission of the affidavit by each beneficiary to KIIFB for disbursal of the amount to the beneficiaries. About 1,275 families need to be rehabilitated between Kovalam and Varkala as part of the scheme.