THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The finance department has approved Rs 81 crore for constructing flats to rehabilitate fisherfolk at Muttathara in Thiruvananthapuram. Finance Minister K N Balagopal said 400 flats will be built with money from the Punargeham project of the fisheries department.
The rehabilitation of fishermen at Muttathara was one of the key offers made by the government as part of settling the Vizhinjam port stir. The project involves construction of flats for 3,000 families. An order was issued on October 12 handing over eight acres of land to the fisheries department at Muttathara by the animal husbandry department.
The 284 families living in rehabilitation camps at Valiyathura will be given priority in the project. The government provides Rs 5,500 every month to each of these families. The government did not approve the demand for a higher amount.The rehabilitation project was conceived during the previous LDF government.