Kerala: On March 13, 2021, the Tata Community Initiatives Trust (TCIT), in association with Tata Sustainability Group, commenced the construction of a new building comprising three classrooms and two laboratories as part of the Tata Kerala Floods Response Programme launched post the floods in 2018. The project will be executed in the premises of the Government Higher Secondary School (GHSS), Vellathooval, in Idukki district, and is estimated to be completed by June 2021.
The 2018 floods affected Idukki district severely. Many schools lost classrooms and laboratories due to the landslides, and some buildings have been certified as unfit for functioning as school buildings. Post the floods, families living in the areas affected by floods were rehabilitated to safer locations by the government. The school would provide much-needed infrastructure to cater to the needs of these relocated children.
The ceremony began with the lighting of a lamp by the dignitaries on the dais and was followed by the foundation stone-laying ceremony at the Vellathooval GHSS school in the presence of the Devikulam Sub Collector S Prem Krishnan, IAS; K Mathew Abraham, managing director and CEO at Kanan Devan Hills Plantation Company; Shiby AC, principal, Vellathooval Government Higher Secondary School; Shobha VS, vice principal, Vellathooval Government Higher Secondary School; and Dinu Kuriakose, president, Parents Teachers Association.
The project is expected to be completed with INR 1.1 crore and the infrastructure would benefit around 450 students of the school. The field-level coordination for the project is being managed by Sanjith P Raju, manager, Human Resources, at Kanan Devan Hills Plantation Company, and technical management oversight is provided by K Zachariah George, AVP at Tata Realty and Infrastructure.
