Leh flood refugees to have housing by end of November
By Shujaat Bukhari
November 15, 2010 SRINAGAR — Most of them who lost their houses on August 5 in the Leh cloudburst are all set to get their shelter by the end of this month as the reconstruction work is going on in full swing. With Prime Minister’s Office monitoring the work on weekly basis, the State administration is on tenterhooks to show the results. While Joint Secretary in PMO Sanjay Mitra has already paid three visits to Leh, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram too visited to ensure that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s word of giving shelter to homeless people before the winter is kept up. The latest to push up the efforts of reconstruction came with the visit of Union Minister for Urban Development Kumari Selja took a review of the work along with a high level team from central government. The Minister visited the site of reconstruction at Solar Colony, where the flash flood victims from most devastated area, Choglamsar, are being rehabilitated. The Hindustan Pre-Fab Limited (HPL), under Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, has taken up construction of 450 one-room pre-fabricated tenements, out of which 170 are being constructed at the Solar Colony alone. Shahid Iqbal, Officer on Special Duty and Incharge Relief and Reconstruction, told The Hindu that HPL has constructed 180 houses so far and work is in progress for another 194 houses, which is likely to be completed by November 20. “Under Prime Minister’s Relief Fund, 196 houses have been fully constructed and work is under progress for remaining 269 houses and rest of the construction work would be completed next year. The National Mission on Bamboo Application has constructed 40 houses so far and 34 are under construction,” he said. According to Dr. Shahid no affected family will be without shelter by the end of this month. “For those who could not complete the houses, we are constructing 36 community shelters so nobody will be on road,” he said. Government is spending Rs 123 crores on the reconstruction mostly with the help of special assistance from PMO. …
