Torrential rain adds to woes of Batticaloa resettled families

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 December 2010, 03:37 GMT]
Continued torrential rain in Paduvaangkarai area in Batticaloa district has badly affected the resettled Tamil families, civil sources in Batticaloa said. Several villages in Vellaave'li, Ko'raalaipaththu South, Ea'raavoorpaththu, Chengkaladi, Ko'raalaipaththu North and South E'ruvilpaththu are under water, causing closure of schools and affecting the administration of government departments. Public transport to these villages from Batticaloa has also been affected as roads are submerged in water. Batticaloa District Meteorological Department Official K. Sooriyakumar said 90.6 mm rain fall was recorded within 24 hours.

Resettled families are still residing temporary shelters as the civil authorities have failed to provide permanent houses, and have been undergoing untold suffering due to flood water entering their dwellings.

Meanwhile, at the session held in Batticaloa by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation (LLRC), the District Government Agent said ninety percent of the uprooted families in the war had been resettled.

However, the authorities responsible for resettlement have not provided any basic infrastructure and other facilities, according to parliamentarians of the district.

Batticaloa District Rehabilitation Secretariat has acknowledged that eighty percent of those resettled are not provided with any relief payment.