His house abutting the sea razed by the raging waves a year ago, K.S. Sunilkumar, a fisherman at Nayarambalam, has been residing in a rented house ever since with the Nayarambalam panchayat paying 50% of the rent.
He’s bought 3.300 cents spending a little over ₹6 lakh granted by the government over a km away from the sea and intends to build a house. The only issue is that he’s unsure whether he’ll be able to build one at ₹4 lakh given by the government for the same. “Our MLA [S. Sarma] had said businessman M.A. Yusuf Ali will sponsor houses at the rate of ₹5.5 lakh a house for half a dozen of us who lost them to Cyclone Ockhi. But I don’t know what’s the latest in that,” says Mr. Kumar.
Mr. Sarma sticks to his word, saying the panchayat has to work it out with Mr. Ali. “If the beneficiaries are ready with land, they may ask the panchayat to talk to him,” he says.
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However, Megha Dileep, vice president of the panchayat, maintains that the Fisheries Department only grants ₹6 to ₹10 lakh for purchase of land and ₹4 lakh for construction of dwelling under a scheme for rehabilitation of fishers.
According to Mahesh, Deputy Director of Fisheries in Ernakulam, a total of ₹10.5 lakh has been distributed among 57 fishermen so far for loss of vessels and fishing gear in the cyclone. “We have drawn up a list of 322 beneficiaries in the district, primarily from Chellanam, Nayarambalam, and Njarakkal villages, and sanction has been accorded for compensation for the remaining people,” he says.
Nine dwellings lostADVERTISEMENT
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In all, nine people lost their dwellings. Five of these were eager to purchase land and build own dwellings away from the sea and funds have been approved for three. Two people are still on the look out for land, he says.
But Charles George, president of the Swathanthra Matsya Thozhilali Union, rues that the whereabouts of some 172 people who left Kochi on 17 vessels ahead of Ockhi are still unknown.