Thiruvananthapuram: Nearly six months after landslides devastated Kerala’s Wayanad district, killing hundreds, efforts to rehabilitate survivors have accelerated. The state government has begun the initial stages of building townships for affected residents.
An official in Kerala’s land revenue department told ThePrint that two surveys are underway in the district for the acquisition of two estates where proposed townships will be built for the landslide survivors.
The surveys began a week after the Kerala High Court on 27 December allowed the administration to take over the Nedumbala Estate and Elstone Tea Estate in Wayanad for rehabilitation, disposing of petitions filed by the estate companies against the acquisitions.
Besides this, another survey is underway in the landslide-affected areas of Meppadi panchayat to demarcate the ‘go zone’ and ‘no go zone’ to identify beneficiaries of the project. Those with property in the ‘no go zone’ will be entitled to a house in the townships.
The ‘go zone’ and ‘no go zone’ are areas marked along the banks of the Chooralmala river through which the debris of the landslides travelled, destroying almost three villages.
The ‘no go zone’ is a buffer zone within 50 metres from the river bed. In safer locations, where the damage was minimal, the distance is limited to 30 metres. ‘Go zone’ includes areas in the affected localities beyond this buffer zone.
The official, who did not wish to be named, said the people residing in the ‘no go zone’ in three wards of Mundakkai, Chooralmala, and Attamala in Meppadi will be rehabilitated.
The survey in Meppadi started on 8 January and will be completed this week, the official said, adding that the state is aiming to complete the project in a year after acquiring the land. The rehabilitation of the affected population will be done in a single phase.
“The final list of beneficiaries will be published before 30 January after revision,” the official told ThePrint. He said the initial list of beneficiaries prepared by the department included 388 families.
Also Read: The deadly deluge of Wayanad
Plan to allot land
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on 1 January announced a comprehensive rehabilitation plan for Wayanad landslide survivors which included the construction of two townships in the district. The government will take over 48.96 hectares of Nedumbala estate in Kottappadi and 58.50 hectares of Elston estate in Kalpetta in Wayanad.
According to the proposal, based on the land value, while every family in Kalpetta will get 5 cents (4,356 square feet) of land, every family in Nedumbala will get 10 cents (8,712 square feet) of land. A 1,000 sq feet home will be built on each allotment, it said.
The township will also have markets, health centres, schools, Anganwadi, playgrounds, and other facilities for entertainment.
The Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) is overlooking the project with KIIFCON, a subsidiary of Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) currently engaged in preparing Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the project.
“We are also looking at possibilities to open production units or factories to employ landslide victims,” the official quoted above said, adding that the state will also earmark agricultural land in the townships for the population.
‘Residents prefer buying their own land’
According to the Kerala government, 231 bodies and 223 body parts were recovered following the deadly landslides that struck the Mundakkai on the night of 30 July last year.
At least 263 people have been confirmed dead following the DNA sample identification with 100 samples yet to be tested.
The survivors are currently lodged in rented houses with the government paying the rental and an allowance of Rs 300 per person for two individuals in the family per day.
However, Naseer Alakkal, a Mundakkai resident and a member of the Mundakkai-Chooralmala action council, said the administration is not transparent about marking the ‘no go zone’.
“We were told that ‘no-go zone’ is areas within 50 metres from landslide-affected areas. But my kitchen was destroyed in the landslide and my house is in the go zone,” he said, adding that the district collector asked local residents to wait to raise their concerns until the survey is completed. Alakkal said most residents prefer buying their own land and building houses if provided with compensation rather than staying in the township.
He also said the government should increase the land allotment to 10 cents in Kalpetta, arguing that there wouldn’t be any land left after building a 1,000 square foot house.
“There are religious and other amenities within a kilometre in Kalpetta. So instead of building facilities, the government can allocate it to people,” he said.
Another official with the state government, who engaged in the survey in Wayanad, told ThePrint that the current proposals about beneficiaries and land are not yet final.
“The state will make changes if necessary,” he said.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
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