Houses for 374 tsunami victims

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*SOUTHERN NEWS - TAMIL NADU*

 

*Dec 23, 2005*

 

http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IET20051221021242&Topic=0&Title=Sout\

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*Houses for 374 tsunami victims*

Wednesday December 21 2005 12:34 IST

 

NAGAPATTINAM: Handing over the keys of the 374 permanent houses

constructed by Mata Amritanandamayi Math to the district administration

here on Tuesday, the divine woman Mata Amritanandamayi, affectionately

called 'Amma,' appealed to the people to face challenges in life and

overcome them.

 

''There are two ways to tackle the problems in life. One is to face and

overcome them. The other is to run away from the problems".

 

"Better face and overcome the problems instead of running away from

them. For, if you run away from the challenges in life, they will follow

you like your shadow,'' the Mata said.

 

She appealed to the people to strive hard to come up in life unmindful

of the criticism. Do not lose heart in the face of adversity.

 

Do your duty without expecting any reward, she added. According to the

Mata, the downfall of justice is worse than the nuclear war and the

tsunami and the efforts taken without the grace of God will not yield

the desired results.

 

Nagapattinam District Collector Dr J Radhakrishnan, who received the

keys, thanked the Mata and described the occasion as a golden day in the

life of the beneficiaries.

 

Stating that the killer waves claimed 6075 lives and caused damage to

over 17,000 houses in the district, he said the State Government had

sanctioned Rs 45 crore for undertaking relief and rehabilitation works,

including provision of roads and another Rs 51 crore for providing boats

and other facilities to the affected.

 

He said that as many as 17,467 permanent houses were being built at 79

places in the district for the tsunami affected and expressed hope that

the construction of all the permanent houses would be completed before

April next.

 

He also thanked the NGOs for their contribution during the relief and

rehabilitation works undertaken for the tsunami-affected.

 

He then handed over the keys to the panchayatdars Periyasami

(Samanthanpettai), Kumaresan (Akkaraipettai), Pakkririsami

(Pandagasalai) and Packiaraj (Rayiladi).

 

Earlier, Abhayamrita Chaitanya, in-charge of Madurai Ashramam, in his

welcome address, pointed out that 'Amma', who was herself affected by

the tsunami at the head ashramam, extended all types of assistance to

others without bothering about herself.

 

Nagapattinam MP AKS Vijayan said that the residents of Nagapattinam

district were depending on either fishing or agriculture for their

livelihood and appealed to the Mata to make arrangements for starting an

industry in the district so as to provide jobs.

 

Former minister and Nagapattinam MLA R Jeevanandam, Additional Collector

Ranvir Prasad also spoke. Former TN Chief Secretary T V Venkataraman, SP

Abdul Rahoof, Municipal Chairperson M Thamizharasi, vice chairman R

Chandramohan among others were present.