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Under
 the Tsunami Relief and Rehabilitation –
Alternative For India
Development (AID) with financial assistance from French Red
Cross has taken up housing construction of a dalit village
Manampadi in Killai panchayat of Chidambaram Taluk , Cuddalore
district of T.Nadu
Cuddalore is one of the worst affected districts in T.Nadu due
to Tsunami. The core focus of the relief agencies has been fully
concentrated on the fishing villages. Killai region is
predominantly populated with dalit villages. Their main
occupation pre-Tsunami was agricultural labour and boat labour.
With Tsunami both their livelihood and their shelters were
havocked.
Manampadi is a dalit village and 97% of the houses were thatched
houses and few dilapidated structures existed. With Tsunami and
the cyclone the entire village was shattered. It had 108
households . 30 of them were without any land records. It was
decided to rebuild the entire village and primarily the 30
households who did not own their own land were enabled to
purchase their own plots.
The
entire village was rebuild. His Excellency – Sardar Surjit Singh
Barnala – Governor of T.Nadu inaugurated the housing by
officially opening the plaques of the housing and two community
centers built in Manampadi and Edapalayam respectively on 12th
may 2007 at Townhall in Cuddalore district of T.Nadu. The
Governor lauded the efforts of the non-government organisations
like AID for taking up both relief and rehabilitation of the
tsunami affected villages. He acknowledged the efforts of AID in
training the youth for disaster preparedness for aiding
 the
fishermen by giving boats and for building the capacities of
women in the region.
Shri
Rajendra Ratnoo I.A.S., District Collector gave special
felicitations on this occasion.
Dr.K.T.Arasu director – AID India proposed vote of thanks on
this occasion.
Mrs.
Sunanda K.S. founder and trustee of AID India and Mr. Jurgen
Pletsch also participated in the occasion.
On
21st may 2007 the houses were formally handed over to the
beneficiaries in the Manampadi village by AID India.
The
houses have been dedicated to Late Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan
and named Loknayak Jayaprakash Nagar.
The
two community centers in Manampadi and Edapalayam village are
named Prabhavathi Community Center and handed over to the local
village committees .
A
grand function took place on this occasion. The guests were
accorded traditional welcome accompanied by Nadaswaram and folk
dances of T.Nadu to rhythemic beats.
Mrs.
Sunanda K.S. founder and trustee of AID India congratulated the
villages of Manampadi and Edapalayam for making this day happen.
It was indeed a dream come true. Inspite of so many hurdles - it
was able to
 achieve
this milestone with full participation of the local communities.
Mr.
Jurgen of French Red Cross spoke of the situation when he first
came to visit this village with AID and the contrasting
situation of today. With celebrations to the core and the houses
decorated with colourful lights and the beaming faces of the
village - he said , I feel that today I am in USA.
He
handed over the first five couples the keys to their dream
houses.
Dr.
K.T. Arasu
 Director of AID India spoke on AID’S milestones in
the rehabilitation initiatives of AID in the tsunami affected
regions. He highlighted
the exclusion of dalit villages in the initial phase of tsunami
and how hard it was for aid to make the housing initiative a
reality. He also shared the concerns and commitments of
AID’S long term mission and its future plans in the region.
Mr.Deenadayalan the project manager of AID India proposed a vote
of thanks.
The
village attained a festive look. The viewers were treated to the
folk dances of fame – Karagattam, Thappatam and the traditional
Bharathanatyam. This was followed by music orchestra.
In
 another ceremony which took place at Edapalayam village the
community center was opened founder and trustee of AID India
Mrs. Sunanda K.S. and Director Dr. K.T.Arasu and the villagers
were urged to utilise the center in appropriate manner and also
help the other villages surrounding them to utilise the center.
Indeed it has been a great and grand day for AID and the
villagers together. |
