Overview
- District officials held a draw on Feb. 20 to select 178 families for the first allotment, with keys and title deeds to be presented at the Feb. 25 inauguration in Kalpetta.
- The Model Township is being built on 64.4705 hectares acquired from Elston Estate for 410 houses designed to shelter about 1,662 people, with remaining units slated to be finished before the monsoon.
- Each completed home is a single-storey, 1,000 sq ft unit on seven cents of land and the township will add internal roads, a health centre, an anganwadi, a public market and multipurpose community facilities.
- Some affected residents say they remain excluded from beneficiary lists or need help restoring livelihoods, even as officials call the first handovers a major milestone.
- In a parallel initiative, Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to lay the foundation on Feb. 26 for a Congress-backed project of 50 homes at Kunnambetta, with 5.42 acres earmarked, eight cents per beneficiary, 1,100 sq ft designs and Rs 5 lakh aid for 40 shop owners.