GANDHINAGAR, Aug 5: The Gujarat Government has prepared an ambitious Rs 2209.30 crore `cyclone mitigation and construction project, 1998' to undertake long-term construction activities with a view to mitigate the devastating impact of cyclones in the state.Announcing the new project, Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel told media persons here today that the present project aimed at providing protective structures like cyclone shelters and shelter belts and to reconstruct and rebuild infrastructure like roads, drainage systems, water supply, ports, transmission and distribution of electricity and so on.
The project targeted people below the poverty line by providing basic infrastructure and activities relating to agriculture, animal husbandry and fisheries keeping in view the needs of such deprived sections.
Some activities could help restore ecological balance in coastal areas and also help in alleviating poverty, he added.
The cyclone of 1998 was unprecedented and most devastating in the history ofGujarat and it was the sixth cyclone in recent times and indicated increasing severity of cyclonic storms affecting the state, especially in the Saurashtra and Kutch regions.
The project had been submitted to the central government for coordination with the World Bank, he said.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
