Kin of Idukki landslide victims to get new houses

With the highly deplorable living conditions of plantation workers in Kerala coming to the fore following the tragic landslide in Pettimudi in Idukki district, the state government has assured to provide new pucca houses to the victims of tragedy that has claimed 56 lives so far.

The announcement regarding the new houses was made by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan who visited the site, seven days after the tragic incident.

He and other ministers of the ruling LDF government had come in for sharp criticism for failing to visit the site.

The Chief Minister who presided over a meeting after visiting the landslide site, said the immediate priority is to provide safe houses, education for children, uninterrupted power supply and mobile connectivity.

Though there have been demands from Opposition and various sections to increase the compensation from ` 5 lakh to `10 lakh (on par with the victims of Air India Express crash in Kozhikode), the Chief Minister said under the disaster management rule the families of the victims are entitled to get only `4 lakh.

The government has directed the district collector to prepare a detailed report on the conditions of the plantation workers.

According to official figures of the 70,000 workers, Idukki accounts for 50,000 workers and majority among them are from SC/ST category.

Most workers who are homeless and landless, live in one room tenements provided by the companies which are almost 100 years old.

Idukki MP Dean Kuriakose of the Congress slammed the government for failing to raise the compensation amount to `10 lakh.

“These are homeless and landless Dalit people. You cannot apply the disaster management rules strictly in their case. It may be noted that majority of them are living in dilapidated houses and need to be shifted immediately lest we invite another tragedy.”