A multipurpose cyclone shelter (disaster relief shelter centre), touted as the first-of-its-kind facility in the State for providing refuge to people during natural calamities, was opened at Janakshemam Colony in Mararikulam North grama panchayat on Thursday.
Inaugurating the shelter, Revenue Minister E. Chandrasekharan said the construction of 13 more shelters across the State would be completed this year. “Two more shelters are under construction in Alappuzha. The construction of the shelter at Cheruthana has made good progress,” the Minister said.
Cost ₹3 crore
The 830-sq-m structure has facilities to accommodate around 1,000 people at a time. It consists of halls, kitchens, a ramp for the differently abled, toilet blocks, a sick room, store, and generator. The three-storey shelter was constructed by the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority under the National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project of the Union government at a cost of around ₹3 crore. The project was funded by the World Bank and the State government on a 75:25 basis. Besides cyclones, the facility will be used during floods, coastal erosion and other natural calamities. Although meant to be used as a shelter during natural calamities, the facility would be provided to public functions, marriages, and so on during other times.
The centre will be under the control of the District Collector. A committee with Mararikulam North grama panchayat president as chairman and panchayat secretary as the chief executive officer has been constituted for the functioning of the shelter.
Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac, Civil Supplies Minister P. Thilothaman, A.M. Ariff, MP, district panchayat president G. Venugopal, and District Collector A. Alexander spoke.
Not the first: KPCC
Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Mullappally Ramachandran has refuted claims of the government that the facility at Mararikulam was the first cyclone shelter in Kerala. In a press note, Mr. Ramachandran said the State’s first cyclone shelter was constructed at Vadakara when he was the Minister of State for Home Affairs.
