LDF-UDF slugfest over Wayanad township home ‘cracks’

THe alleged evolution of structural cracks in sure houses reinforced as component part of the rehabilitation town in Kerala’sWayanad has evolved into a direct political confrontation between the opposition UDF and the ruling LDF over the quality of the construction.A day after revenue minister K Rajan personally inspected some housing units in the township set up in Kalpetta and dismissed allegations of structural cracks, Leader of the opposition VD Satheesan claimed that it was the job of engineers, not the revenue minister, to identify if there are structural flaws in construction of the houses.Satheesan also lambasted the LDF government for inaugurating the township’s first phase and handing over a few homes to landslide survivors despite the works not being fully completed.“The government displayed hypocrisy with respect to the Wayanad landslide township. The homes that have been inaugurated by the chief minister don’t even have water and electricity connections. Weeks after the inauguration, the intended beneficiaries have not been able to reside in those homes,” said the UDF chairman.“The inauguration was a sham to deceive the people before the elections. If the work had been completed, the keys would have been handed over to people the next day,” he said.Satheesan also termed as “drama” the act of the revenue minister to personally inspect alleged cracks on the walls of certain houses. “He stood on top of the desk to inspect the cracks. Who is he to inspect it? Isn’t it the job of the engineers?,” he asked.On Saturday, after Rajan inspected some of the homes, he clarified that no houses have been handed over to the disaster-affected persons. Only land titles have been transferred, he said.Rajan said that the government would take all measures to overcome shortcomings in construction and put the onus on Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society (ULCCS) to address issues of structural flaws if complaints arise.Meanwhile, V Sivankutty, minister and CPI(M) leader, denied allegations of structural flaws in the homes. “These are just lies. The Congress had promised over 100 homes for the township but has been unable to build even one house,” he said.On March 1, CM Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the township’s first phase with homes for 178 families. Once fully realised, the township near Kalpetta will feature 410 single-storey homes on seven cents of land each.Apart from homes, the township is set to have anganwadis, primary health centre, market and recreation areas.