Kalpetta: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday announced that the first phase of the Wayanad township, constructed to rehabilitate people displaced by multiple landslides, will be inaugurated on February 25 at Kalpetta. The ceremony will be held at 4 pm. Of the 327 beneficiaries, 178 will receive houses along with title deeds to the property.

The remaining 149 beneficiaries will be provided houses and land before the next monsoon, the Chief Minister said in a Facebook post. He added that construction of the houses listed under the second phase is in progress.

Announcing the key-handover ceremony, the Chief Minister termed the event a significant milestone in Kerala’s survival from the havoc caused by the landslides.

“The promise given by the government to those who lost everything in the landslides is being fulfilled. We had vowed that Kerala would stand united to rebuild our land. Now, that pledge is becoming a reality,” he wrote on Facebook.

The township is being developed on government-acquired land and will feature single-storey houses measuring 1,000 sq ft on seven-cent plots, with provisions for future expansion into two-storey homes. The township will also include essential amenities such as a health centre, anganwadi, market and community centre.

Each house has two bedrooms, a kitchen, a hall, and a sit-out. Electricity, water supply, and sewage facilities will be ready for the occupants on the day the keys are handed over.

The Kerala government laid the foundation stone for the township project at Elstone Estate in Kalpetta on March 27, 2025, to rehabilitate people displaced by the massive landslides in the hilly district.

A total of 298 people were killed, and 32 went missing in the landslides that struck Wayanad’s Mundakkai and Chooralmala areas on July 30, 2024. As many as 630 people were rescued from the debris.