A shelter complex for tsunami-affected families is under construction in India's southeast coastal city of Chennai, where 206 people were killed and some 18,000 houses damaged during the disaster a month ago, a local government official said Wednesday.

The shelters in Thurai Pakkam, about 20 km south of the downtown and two km from the coast, are expected to house 2,500 families when they are completed in two weeks, said C. V. Sanker, an official in charge of the relief work in the southeastern state of Thamil Nadu.

Chennai is the capital of Thamil Nadu, where nearly 8,000 people were killed and more than 896,000 people living along the coastline were affected by the Dec. 26 tsunami.

The complex includes 10 blocks of temporary shelters complete with water supply. The 44-million-rupee (1.05-million-US-dollar) project is part of the government's resettlement plan for tsunami victims, Sanker said.

The state government has said those living within 300 meters of the high tide line should be relocated to prevent mass casualties and losses in case of similar disasters.

Sanker said the government of Chennai plans to build more than 4,500 temporary houses for its 65,322 tsunami-affected population, mostly poor fishermen and daily workers.

More than 150,000 people were confirmed killed and 146,000 others went missing in the powerful Indian Ocean tsunamis which smashed coastlines of 12 countries from Asia to Africa. Official figures put the death toll in India at more than 10,700, and the number of missing above 5,600.

(Xinhua News Agency January 26, 2005)