Thiruvananthapuram: On the first anniversary of the Mundakkai-Chooralmala disaster, the Kerala Cabinet decided to include 49 more affected persons in the list of beneficiaries. This takes the total beneficiaries to 452. Already, 402 houses have been allotted in the proposed Elstone Township.

At the Cabinet meeting, it was said that the hearing of over 100 people who had applied for a house had been completed. "The deserving among these will be included in the beneficiary list after a thorough assessment," Revenue Minister K Rajan said. It was also decided to examine whether the excluded could be made part of other government rehabilitation programmes. A field-level survey for the purpose will be launched in August.

The government had identified five hectares in Vellarimala Village for the rehabilitation of tribal people in the affected areas. The Cabinet has directed the Wayanad collector to urgently initiate steps to grant a record of rights (RoR) for the land. In Vellarimala, houses will be constructed for 13 tribal families. Each family will be provided a house, modelled on the Elstone Township houses, and 10 cents of land. 

If the rain did not play havoc, the Cabinet expressed confidence that all the houses in the Elstone Township would be ready by December 31. The model house could be completed within four months. Though the government had taken over the Elstone Estate land on October 4 last year, work could begin only on April 13 this year because the estate owners had approached the court against the acquisition. 

The Cabinet also decided to pay treatment costs to the affected till December 31 this year. The reimbursement scheme for the affected, which had virtually ended, was resumed only the other day. Rs 6 crore had been sanctioned for the purpose from the Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF).