Construction work for a model housing project for landless tribal families in Wayanad district is under way on the banks of the Karapuzha reservoir in the district.
The comprehensive project envisages to construct as many as 230 houses with all amenities at Parurkunnu near Thrikkaipetta for the landless tribal people, including Paniya and Kattunayakka tribal sects, without the intervention of middlemen, P.U. Das, Soil Conservation officer, Wayanad said.
As many as 114 houses will be constructed in the first phase with the active participation of beneficiaries, and the houses will be handed over to them by the first week of March, Mr. Das, who is also the implementing officer of the project, said.
The project is being executed on 13.5 hectares of vested forest land that was handed over to the Tribal Resettlement and Development Mission (TRDM) a few years ago. TRDM had disbursed 10 cents each to 114 landless tribal families a few months ago .
TRDM has allotted ₹6.84 crore for the comprehensive housing project. A 517-sq ft house will be constructed for each family under the project at a cost of ₹8 lakh.
Apart from infrastructure facilities such as road, drinking water, electricity, and street lights will also be provided, Mr. Das added.
District Collector Adeela Abdulla, C.K. Saseendran, MLA, ITDP project officer T.C. Cherian and South Wayanad Divisional Forest Officer P. Ranjith Kumar visited the site on Monday. They also interacted with beneficiaries.
Mr. Saseendran said he would allot funds for the construction of a study room for tribal children under the project from the MLA fund.
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