Kerala announces eight schemes for tsunami-affected

Thiruvananthapuram: Three days before the first anniversary of the December 26, 2004 tsunami that wreaked havoc along the Kerala coast, the state government yesterday announced a package of new schemes for the affected people.

Three of these projects are specific to three villages Alappad, Arattupuzha and Edavanakkad that bore the brunt of the tsunami waves.

All the schemes will together involve an expenditure of Rs50 million (Dh4.17 million).

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said a memorial will be erected in Alappad to mark the tsunami tragedy, and that the village council would be granted funds for a public crematorium.

The Arattupuzha village will get a new block for its higher secondary school, while Edavanakkad is being offered a desalination plant.

The other schemes are: Rs500-per-month pension scheme for 10 years for those who have been widowed by the tsunami tragedy; financial assistance of Rs25,000 (Dh2,083) for each girl who is getting married this year from tsunami-affected areas; assistance to self-help units in the affected areas; assistance to youth clubs that are functioning in the coastal districts; and financial aid to all handicapped people in the coastal areas irrespective of whether they have been handicapped as a result of the tsunami.

Chandy said the expenditure towards the eight schemes would be met from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund.

Asked if the state government's obligation towards tsunami-affected people would be considered over with these schemes, Chandy said that was not the idea. He said he had in fact submitted some new proposals to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when he met him in Delhi on Thursday.

"In all, projects worth Rs14.66 billion [Dh1.22 billion] have been submitted and these involve projects for people in all the nine coastal districts of the state, and not just tsunami-affected areas.

"This is because fishermen in almost all the coastal districts suffered loss of fishing equipment, or loss of work days or some other loss," he said.

The new schemes have come even as the government is facing criticism over the absence of rehabilitation efforts in tsunami-affected areas.