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Two townships to be built for Wayanad survivors: Kerala CM
The survivors of landslides in Meppadi, Wayanad who lost their homes and belongings will be rehabilitated in two model townships complete with disaster-resilient and self-sufficient infrastructure
The survivors of the July 2024 landslides in Meppadi, Wayanad who lost their homes and belongings in the tragedy will be rehabilitated in two model townships complete with disaster-resilient and self-sufficient infrastructure, said chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday.
The state cabinet approved the master plan for the massive rehabilitation project as part of which the townships will come up on 58.50 hectares of Elstone estate in Kalpetta municipality and 48.96 hectares of Nedumpala estate in Meppadi panchayat. The high court had earlier allowed the state government to acquire the land from the private owners under the provisions of the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
“Due to the difference in the cost of land in the two estates and varying land features, it has been decided that each family will get five cents of land in Elstone estate and 10 cents of land in Nedumpala estate. The homes will be 1,000 sq ft in dimensions and single-storeyed. The final list of the disaster-affected families will be released by January 25,” the chief minister told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram.
The townships will be equipped with all necessary infrastructure such as schools, anganwadis, hospitals and clinics and recreation areas, he underlined. “Even though the rehabilitation plan was initially drawn up in two phases with those who had been rendered homeless given first preference followed by those whose homes are intact but land located in the landslide-hit zone, it will now be implemented in a single phase simultaneously so that everyone gets access to their new homes at the same time,” he said.
The Uralungal Labour Contract Co-operative Society has been assigned the construction contractor of the project.
To help the victims explore future livelihood options, a micro-plan survey was conducted among 4,658 people belonging to 1084 families under the leadership of Kudumbashree, the state’s poverty elimination programme, the chief minister said.
While a large majority of them wanted to set up micro-enterprises, there were others seeking opportunities in sectors like agriculture and wildlife protection, Vijayan said.
The land in the landslide-affected areas will continue to be owned by the survivor families even after they relocate to the township. Efforts will be taken to implement collective farming techniques on the land in order to prevent it from turning into a forest, the CM said.
The Kerala CM also chaired a meeting on Wednesday with those who had come forward with offers of sponsoring at least 100 homes. “The money to be collected from such sponsors, funds from SDRF, NDRF and the aid expected from the Centre will be collectively utilised for the township project,” he said.
He confirmed that the Centre has classified the Meppadi landslide as a level-3 disaster of “severe nature”. At the same time, the letter from the home ministry did not specify the financial assistance to be given for the rehabilitation of survivors or the decision regarding whether the loans and liabilities of the survivors will be waived off, he pointed out.
The state had made the demand of ₹2,221 crore as post-disaster needs assessment estimate in the letter submitted to the Centre on November 13.
In the early hours of July 30, 2024, multiple landslides in Meppadi panchayat in Wayanad flattened at least three densely-populated human settlements, killing over 250 people and securing a place in the state’s history as its worst natural disaster. It is also the worst landslide in terms of human fatalities in India.
