 "A man uses a board to float through a flooded street to reach to a market place in Chennai")
She has requested in a letter the Centre sanction a special scheme of constructing 50,000 houses for the urban poor who are to be resettled from water courses and water bodies at a total cost of Rs 5,000 crore, as the existing schemes are not viable.
"Hence, it is very essential that a special programme is approved for the construction of houses at alternative locations for the 50,000 flood affected families residing along the Chennai water courses, with substantially enhanced Government of India contribution," she said.
In Chennai city, about 50,000 families were already been surveyed and identified living along the banks of the Adayar and Cooum Rivers and the Buckingham Canal.
Out of this, the Tamil Nadu government would be able to accommodate 25,000 families in tenements already constructed and under construction by the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board and the resettlement of these people is expected to commence within two weeks and to be completed in phases within a year.
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For the remaining 25,000 families, particularly those residing along the Buckingham Canal and for a further 25,000 families residing in the vicinity of other water courses and water bodies in Chennai city and its suburban areas, affected in the recent flooding, the state government has prepared a project to construct 50,000 multi-storeyed tenements on various pieces of land that are available with the state.
The cost of construction per unit of 380 sq ft, including the cost of providing other common amenities, is expected to be Rs 10 lakhs per unit.
The total cost of this massive special housing project will be Rs 5000 crore, she said. The cost of the land will be the contribution of the State Government.
Besides, it is estimated that there are 50,000 houses in Chennai and adjoining urban areas which were damaged in the floods, she said. She requested the centre to make a special allocation of Rs 750 crore for 50,000 houses at the rate of Rs 1.5 lakh per house as Central grant.
The State Government will add a further Rs 1 lakh per house to provide a grant of Rs 2.5 lakh per house for in situ reconstruction of houses in slum areas affected by the floods.
Apart from this, many rural areas in Tamil Nadu, in particular in Cuddalore, Tiruvallur, Kanchipuram and Thoothukudi districts suffered extensively in the floods and nearly 1 lakh hut dwellings were either partially or fully damaged in the floods.
She proposed that houses could be constructed for them under the Indira Awaas Yojana with an inhanced unit cost of Rs 1.5 lakh per house as a special allocation.
She requested the Prime Minister to make a special allocation of 1 lakh houses additionally for the flood affected rural areas in Tamil Nadu, over and above the normal allocation for the State, under the Indira Awaas Yojana at an enhanced unit cost of Rs 1.5 lakhs to enable the construction of permanent houses.
"I would be grateful if you could instruct the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and the Ministry of Rural Development to expeditiously accord the additional special sanctions I have sought, so that the construction of houses for the families most adversely affected in the recent devastating floods in Tamil Nadu could commence without any delay," she added.
Jayalalithaa, in November, informed Modi that state immediately required over Rs 8,000 crore towards flood relief and asked to immediately release Rs 2,000 crore aid.
The centre then allocated Rs 940 crore and appointed a team to visit the flood affected area. However, following the visit of the central team, further rains created havoc in Chennai and neighbouring districts and Modi, after visiting the affected area, announced relief of Rs 1,000 crore.
