Poor Gaja relief work may cost AIADMK

Cyclone Gaja, which made a landfall on November 16, 2018, had washed away the livelihood of the people from all walks of life in the Delta districts. Around five lakh houses werecompletely damaged in Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Thanjavur, Pudukkottai districts.

People, who had lost their belongings, were initially given a temporary support for a few days by the State government as well as the NGOs. Despite the government promising to build concrete houses for thosewho lost their houses, the works for the same is yet to start even afterfour months.

“The government fixed various norms to be identified as beneficiaries, including 500 sqft land and enlistment in the Below Poverty Line list. People from all backgrounds lost their houses in the disaster. The government norms could not be met with by many. Hence, the housing scheme has not started in any of the affected regions,” P S Masilamani,Deputy Secretary, Tamil Nadu Farmers Association and resident of Tiruvarur told DT Next.

Even the roads damaged in the cyclone were yet to be re-laid. “In Tiruvarur alone, the State government announced to construct one lakh houses. Since the beneficiaries failed to fulfill the norms given, no work has been started for construction of houses. Furthermore, an amount of Rs 32 crore is yet to be released towards compensation to the Tiruvarur farmers,” he said. “The anger will certainly reflect in the Lok Sabha elections as the people are yet to recover from the devastation,” he noted.

Meanwhile, there is a widespread claim among the people in this region that the State government had not announced any compensation except for the lost coconut trees.

“Around one crore trees and various horticulture crops, including mango, banana, jackfruit and cash crop like teak wood, were uprooted in the region but no compensation was announced,” said environmentalist ‘Vanam’ Kalaimani.

Kalaimani said that the big old trees that were uprooted are still lying abandoned in several parts of Vedaranyam, Tiruvarur and adjacent areas. “A few NGOs were able to plant around 20,000 trees and plant saplings. Since the loss was heavy, the government must initiate steps to revive the green cover on a large scale,” he said.

Kalaimani and his team had travelled across the cyclone Gaja-hit regions recently. He confirmed that the debris can still be seen across the region denoting that no restoration work was carried out. He also said that the people are dejected that the initial enthusiasm shown by the ministers to help them had waned away after the election was announced.

In the meantime, the Cauvery Farmers Protection Association Secretary Sundara Vimalanathan said that the farmers from the region had been waiting for a loan waiver.

They have been left with no other option but to borrow money from money lenders for a heavy interest to sustain their livelihood, he said, adding that the farmers, who longed for the loan waiver, have lost hope of receiving a resettlement package.