Iritty: In a heartwarming gesture, a mason hailing from Iritty, used the money he had set aside for conducting the marriage of his daughter to construct houses for five poor families. Sundaran’s daughter, who completed her higher education in Bangalore, decided to marry only after working for a couple of years, allowing her father to use the money he had saved up for marriage for humanitarian cause.

The mason and his family will be providing brand new homes to five families on ‘Thiruvonam’ day this year. 

The houses are being constructed in Kollakadavu. Each of them are spread over 750 square feet, with two bedrooms, a kitchen, verandah, courtyard, and a bathroom. A common well is constructed inside the compound for supplying water to these houses.

The overall budget of the ‘project’ amounts to Rs 1 crore. Sundaran, his wife Sheena and their children Sona and Sayantha are supervising the construction activities. 

Sundaran had constructed a house free of cost for a Vattiyara native 10 years ago. The success the mason has achieved in the house construction sector has allowed him to fund for these humanitarian activities.    

The beneficiaries were selected from a pool of 165 applicants after thorough verification. Three families from Payam panchayat and two families from Ayyankunnu panchayat will walk into their new homes this Onam season.

The five families will be given Rs 20,000 each to meet their immediate needs. Beds, cots and other facilities have been provided to the families as well. The first house in the row will be allotted to the family of a differently abled person.