The government is committed to give all assistance to the victims of the Pettimudy landslip, Revenue Minister E. Chandrasekharan has said.
Distributing the compensation to the relatives of the victims at the Munnar grama panchayat hall on Saturday, he said the constriction of houses for them at Kuttiyar Valley, near Munnar, would be completed within a time frame. The government gave priority to the rehabilitation of the families of the victims, he said.
₹1.95 crore given
An amount of ₹1.95 crore was distributed to the relatives of 89 victims. The compensation for 39 people was distributed on Saturday. The remaining persons would be handed over the amount soon, said officials. The compensation money was deposited in the bank accounts of the relatives and pass books were handed over to hem.
The district administration plans to hand over the houses to the families on January 26. The houses are being built on 50 cents of land allotted by the government at Kuttiyar Valley. Nine families were found eligible for the houses. Earlier, the Kanan Devan Hills Plantation Company had allotted ₹1 crore for the rehabilitation of the families.
In the landslip on August 6 at Pettimudy, four tea estate lanes (cluster of workers’ quarters) were buried under the debris. As many as 70 persons, including women and children, lost their lives. Four are still missing.
Smart phones for kids
The Samagra Shiksha Kerala (SSK) provided smart phones and other assistance to the surviving children of the victims. Smart phones were distributed to 17 students and clothes and food kit were given to all children in a function at Government UP School, Kannimala, on Saturday by SSK project director A.P. Kuttikrishnan.
The SSK provided counselling to the children and closely monitored their education, said Hepsi Christinal, SSK programme co-ordinator.
