Kerala: In a grand ceremony on Sunday, keys to the 121 houses, which were constructed by Eenadu-Ramoji Group for the rehabilitation of flood victims of Alappuzha in Kerala, were handed over to the respective families by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Each house was constructed in a span of 40 days with the cooperation of Kudumbasree and 'I Am For Alleppey' project.
"Ramoji group will always lend a helping hand whenever it can to mitigate the effects of a disaster. No matter what kind of disaster it is. I think it's our responsibility. We have been involved in more than 10 such initiatives. We also received support from the employees of Ramoji Group, " said Eenadu group MD, Cherukuri Kiran.
Acknowledging the cooperation from other organisations and district officials, Kiran added, "I especially admire the Kudumbashree workers who built such beautiful homes. Special thanks to Krishna Teja, former
Sub-Collector of Aleppey, who initiated this project. I would also like to thank the Telugu people and everyone else who helped to complete this project."
The function was held at Pathirapalli in Alappuzha.
Eenadu Managing Director C H Kiran, Managing Director of Margadharshi Chit Fund, Shailaja Kiran, Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Issac, PWD and Registration Minister G Sudhakaran, Civil Supplies Minister P Thilothaman, Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala, Members of Parliament, MLAs, leaders of major political parties and senior government officials took part in the function.
The project, which was supposed to be completed in a year was ready in just eight months.
The basement of these houses was set one-and-a-half meter high from the ground level so that they won’t get flooded again in a flood-prone Alappuzha. When most of the houses in the locality got flooded last year, these houses were safe from getting waterlogged. Many of the construction experts even suggested replicating the same model for the construction of other houses in Alappuzha.
The construction wing of Kudumbasree, a women's self-help group, was entrusted with the construction of these houses and they did the job in record time, at a very low cost without compromising on the quality of the materials used. The initial plan was for the construction of 116 houses but Kudumbasree members managed to reduce the cost of each unit and thus managed to construct an additional five more houses within the same budget.
The entire project was completed at a cost of Rs 7.77 crore. Kudumbasree's construction wing was selected as the builder of these units based on a request from Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Eenadu – Ramoji group had collected contributions from their readers across the globe and the employees of the group also donated generously to raise funds for this flood relief project.
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Eenadu-Ramoji Group had been involved in similar philanthropic projects in the past as well. They helped Gujarat when an earthquake shattered Kutch, Odisha when it faced severe cyclonic storms, Tamil Nadu when Tsunami wreaked havoc in its coastal areas and Andhra when Hud Hud shattered everything in sight and when Krishna and Godavari rivers flooded the state.
This is the 10th such project carried out by the group towards relief works.
