Sethusamudram project to aid coastal villages

The Sethusamudram Corporation Limited has identified as many as 12 coastal villages in Thoothukudi and Ramanathapuram districts, for creation of micro infrastructure under the coastal community development programme.

The corporation has sanctioned Rs. 32.15 lakh for developing micro infrastructure such as construction of school buildings, provision of solar street lights and improvement of water supply, said its chairman and Managing Director N K Raghupathy in a statement.

The coastal areas covered under the first phase of the programme include Periyasamipuram and Thoothukudi town in Thoothukudi district, Mukuntharayar Chatram, Dhanushkodi, Thavukaadu, Kambipaadu and Chinnapalam, Mangaadu, Sambai, Olaikuda, Karaiyur, Vadakaadu, Ramakrishnapuram and Muthuramalinga Thevar Nagar in Rameswaram in Ramanathapuram district.

According to Raghupathy, the detailed project report of the Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project (SSCP) provided funds up to Rs 60 crore for the development of facilities in the project area, which would directly benefit the local population, especially fishermen, of which Rs 5 crore is earmarked for provision of micro infrastructure in coastal villages.

It has also been proposed to the Government that funds up to Rs 5 lakh per village could be utilised under the scheme, so that 100 villages could be benefited, he pointed out.

Micro development projects had been taken up in accordance with the general condition laid by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, to take appropriate community development and welfare measures, including drinking water facilities for villagers in the vicinity of the project site.

The Government, he said, had also laid among other things, a specific condition to provide sustainable opportunities to coastal community, allocating appropriate budgetary provision in the project cost in a bid to offset any impact on the fisheries.

Source: New Ind Press