The under-construction apartment complex for fisherfolks at Mannumpuram.
The construction of an apartment complex for fisherfolks at Mannumpuram in Thottappally is nearing completion.
The complex is being constructed under the Punargeham project of the State government, which aims to rehabilitate fisher families living within 50 metres of the coastline. The Fisheries department informed that families living within 50 metres of the coastline who wish to shift to the apartment complex at Mannumpuram should contact Matysa Bhavan offices in their respective areas.
The facility on 3.48 acres of land will have 19 blocks each having 12 flat units providing housing to 228 families. While the construction of 17 blocks has entered the final stages, work on two blocks is expected to begin soon. Each 491 sq ft flat unit will have two bedrooms, living/dining area, kitchen and toilet. Besides, roads, drinking water, electricity, waste management systems, compound wall among other facilities are being readied. The structure is built on the lines of the fisherfolk apartment complex at Muttathara in Thiruvananthapuram.
The government launched Punargeham to provide housing for all fisher families residing in areas vulnerable to coastal erosion in nine coastal districts of the State. As per a survey conducted by the Fisheries department in 2018-19, as many as 4,660 families in Alappuzha are living within 50 metres of the coastline.
Apart from constructing the housing complex, the government is providing eligible families an amount of ₹10 lakh each including ₹6 lakh for buying land and ₹4 lakh for constructing houses. The amount is disbursed in instalments. While a district-level committee has drawn up a beneficiary list of 1,804 families, 1,197 families have informed their willingness to move from the coastline to safer places. “So far 813 beneficiaries in the district have identified land for building individual houses. Of these, 706 families have completed land registration procedures. A total of 459 beneficiaries have received the financial aid in full and 267 have completed house construction. Some 186 families have shifted to their new homes,” said an official.
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