Rehabilitation measures denounced
Even as the Maharashtra government faces flak for its inept handling of bubonic plague in Beed district, experts have denounced the state's earthquake reconstruction and rehabilitation programme in the Marathwada region, following the devastation in September last year.
In the first comprehensive review of the rehabilitation measures undertaken, A S Arya of Roorkee University, Action Research Unit, and Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action, among others, faulted the government's programme on several counts, including lack of community participation in decision-making.
In a study released in Bombay on September 28, the experts demanded that the entire donor housing programme be reviewed on technical, functional and economic grounds. The study suggested evolving designs that recognise local lifestyles, architecture and culture, instead of the present designs that resemble urban slums. The experts added that a site re-evaluation is also necessary to avoid undue stress on the users because of irrational location.