By IANS,
New Delhi : The union ministry of housing and urban poverty alleviation has offered Sikkim and other states affected by Sunday’s earthquake assistance in re-constructing and rebuilding damaged houses and public infrastructure.
Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister Selja expressed her deep sense of grief over the tragedy caused by the quake measuring 6.8 on the Ritcher Scale with epicentre in north Sikkim and made the offer, after carrying out a survey and assessment.
She also announced that Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) will take up construction of houses for the economically weaker sections of the quake victims from its corporate social responsibility (CSR) fund.
These houses would be built with earthquake-resistant features.
“The minister has offered the Sikkim government and other state governments assistance in re-construction and re-building of the damaged houses and public infrastructure after survey and assessment,” a sttatement said.
The minister also offered low-interest HUDCO loan assistance to the state governments for re-construction of public assets and other infrastructure damaged by the earthquake.