Thiruvananthapuram: The vacations are over. Little Sanjana, with her new bag and books, started from her ‘home’ to school on Thursday morning, eager to participate in the praveshanolsavam celebration. But all it took for the Class 4 girl were a few steps, as just a wall separated her school and ‘home’.
B S Sanjana, along with her family, has been camping at Valiyathura Government UP School in Thiruvananthapuram for the last five years. Her house was destroyed in a sea attack, and for the last few years, one of the classrooms in the school itself has been her ‘home’.
Malayalam Manorama earlier brought out the heartening story of Sanjana, daughter of fishermen J. Biju and Susy, on the occasion of the 2020 praveshanolsavam. Her brother Sanjay (11) is a kidney patient.
In 2016, a relief camp was opened in the school to provide shelter for the families who lost their houses in the sea attacks. 10 families are currently accommodated in five classrooms. Sanjana’s family and another ‘reside’ in a classroom with the boundary demarcated by an old torn saree.
Nearly 50 people are living in misery there. Since they don’t have any land or houses in their names, they were not considered for the ‘Punergaeham’ project, in which houses are provided for fishermen.
129 fisherfolk families have been rehabilitated so far
According to the Fisheries Department, a sum of Rs 25 crore was allotted for the rehabilitation of 248 families of fishermen who lost their houses during the 2016 sea attack. Out of the lot, only 129 families have been rehabilitated so far. All those who had houses or land within a 50-metre range of the high-tide marking would be rehabilitated, the authorities informed.