THRISSUR: Revenue Minister K. Rajan said that the expenditure of each house for the Wayanad disaster victims has not been reduced to Rs 20 lakh and it is the share to be paid by the sponsors that has been fixed at that amount. A house of 1,000 square feet will be built at a cost of Rs 30 lakh.

The government will be providing for the additional expenses and collecting materials to build the house. The government has reduced the amount sponsors are supposed to provide because the sponsors were worried. The sponsors will have the right to inspect the construction and quality. The construction will be done by laying a foundation that can accommodate a second floor.

"Thousands of houses were built as tsunami relief, but most of them were destroyed. That should not happen. It is not yet known how many houses are needed for the rehabilitation of Wayanad. It will be possible only when the 2B list is released. 242 houses have been identified under the 2A list. There are 81 houses in the draft of the 2B list. This will be finalized only after hearing the complaints. Rehabilitation will take place jointly.

It is the DDMA that prepares the list for providing houses, not the government. The DDMA, which consists of the Collector, District Panchayat President and representatives of local bodies, has statutory authority. It is the government's duty to intervene if there is any defect in the list.

It was decided to acquire two estates on October 4. However, even the land inspection could not be conducted until December 27 since the owners approached the court. The houses in the "no go" zone identified by John Mathai will be demolished. No houses will be allowed to be built there. The owners can use that land for agriculture and other purposes. The issue of writing off the debts of disaster victims can only be implemented if the National Disaster Management Authority issues instructions to nationalized banks," the minister said. There are 770 applications for this.