Expert panel formed to prepare status on unfinished houses in Edamalakkudy

Idukki district collector Dineshan Cheruvatt addressing the DDC meeting at Idukki collectorate on Saturday The Idukki District Development Committee (DDC) meeting on Saturday decided to appoint an expert panel to prepare a status report on unfinished houses and those in need of repair in Edamalakkudy, the State’s first tribal panchayat. According to officials, the expert panel comprises the Finance Officer, Public Works Department (PWD) Executive Engineer, Local Self-Government Department (LSGD) Executive Engineer, and a representative from the Scheduled Tribes Development department. The committee directed the panel to visit Edamalakkudy and submit a detailed report within one month.Officials noted that the Forest department has been constructing houses in Edamalakkudy since 2023 using funds from the Scheduled Tribes Development department. In the previous DDC meeting, members decided to conduct a structural stability assessment and submit a report on 58 incomplete houses in the panchayat. A preliminary assessment revealed that 12 houses require emergency repairs and 30 houses need to be completely rebuilt. The expert committee was appointed after a technical committee found that only foundation work had been completed for 30 houses, and even those were in an unusable state. According to officials, local tribespeople had lodged complaints regarding the poor condition of the houses.The DDC also directed authorities to remove the contractor tasked with building the road connecting Edamalakkudy panchayat. Construction along a 1.3-kilometre stretch on the first reach from Pettimudy to Edaliparakudy remains pending. During the meeting, the PWD noted that a report has been submitted to the court seeking the removal of the contractor. Officials observed that the contractor had failed to complete several other road projects across the district. Additionally, it was decided at the meeting that unused government land and vacant buildings across the district should be repurposed for public welfare projects.The committee further decided to formulate a comprehensive policy for constructing residential quarters near government offices to provide convenient accommodation for staff posted in the district. Considering the gravity of the situation, the meeting resolved to take prompt action to open new quarries to address the acute shortage of construction materials, including granite, sand, and M-sand. The committee also decided to expedite inspections of government-owned land identified for quarry sanctions.Idukki MLA Roy K. Poulose, Udumbanchola MLA Senapathy Venu, Peerumade MLA Cyriac Thomas, Devikulam Sub-Collector V.M. Arya, Additional District Magistrate (ADM) K. Sunilkumar, and District Planning Officer P. Praveen, among others, attended the meeting Published - October 31, 2026 08:37 pm IST