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NT Bureau
Chennai, Jan 4:

        C P Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation has given away 26 houses to the tsunami-affected fishermen of Angalamman Koil Street in Pudupattinam Village of Kancheepuram district.

        The houses, according to the members of the foundation, has been built to be environmentally sustainable.

        Several members from Wooster, a county in the State of Ohio, USA, organised a rock concert to collect funds for the project.

        The land in which the houses were constructed was purchased by the people of the village and it is situated 500 metres beyond the high tide line as required by the Coastal Regulation Zone.

        David T Hopper, Consul General, USA, Chennai, said the local communities should directly participate in natural disaster rehabilitation programmes to make it a success story.

        Some of the facilities of the houses are individual rainwater harvesting unit for each houses, an individual septic tank and a community vermicomposting pit for organic waste.

        The colony also has a grey water recycling unit, a library and a children's park.

        The total expenditure for the construction of the houses was around Rs 45 lakh.

        Nanditha Krishna, director of the foundation, said the literate youth of the colony wish to generate a supplementary employment during off- season when they are usually out of work and expressed hope that the villagers would maintain the colony.