Thiruvananthapuram: Fisherfolk living within 50 metres of the coastline are set to benefit from a Rs 2,450 crore project of the Kerala government. In all 18,685 families engaged in fishing in nine coastal districts would be rehabilitated in new houses under the project named 'Punargeham'.
The state government has given nod for the project that will be executed by the Fisheries Department. Each family would be granted Rs 10 lakh. Of this, Rs 6 lakh would be to buy the property and Rs 4 lakh would be for building the house. Those who spent less than Rs 6 lakh for buying property can use the remaining amount for house construction.
Minister for Fisheries J Mercykutty Amma said that the 18,685 fisher families were identified through a special survey conducted by the Fisheries Department. For implementing the project, 421 acre is needed and the land needed in each district has been identified.
Of the Rs 2,450 crore needed for the project, Rs 1,398 crore would be taken from the Chief Minister's Disaster Relief Fund and the remaining Rs 1,052 crore would be taken from the budget allocated for the Fisheries Department.
The project would be implemented in three phases. In the first phase, 8,487 families would be rehabilitated at an expense of Rs 998 crore. In the second phase, Rs 797 crore would be spent to rehabilitate 5,099 families. And in the third phase, Rs 655 crore would be spent for 5,099 families.
Punargeham project aims to secure fishing community from threats faced by sea erosion.
