Disaster victims await rehab policy
DEHRADUN: Ajayendra Ajay, whose house was washed away in June flash floods in Augustmuni in Rudraprayag district, meets with the officials and ministers everyday with a sole request - displace people to safer places.
It has been over two months since the flash floods hit Kedar valley, Yamuna valley and Pithoragarh district in the state. But there seems to be no respite for the locals as they live under constant fear of landslides and cloudburst.
“Kedar valley is prone to landslides and with the June flash floods it seems people are sitting on a time bomb,” says Ajay, president of Kedar Valley Displacement Association. Ajay had recent called on chief secretary Subhash Kumar and cabinet minister SS Negi.
In fact, as per state disaster and mitigation department 233 villages across state were mentioned as dangerous that needed immediate relocation. Nonetheless after June disaster, another 239 villages have been identified as landslide prone villages. Records suggest 233 villages located in fragile areas are disasterprone.
“Altogether, 239 villages are the new one which need relocation. We are working on displacement plan,” said Yashpal Arya, disaster management and mitigation minister.
According to Arya, there is no dearth and funds. He also claimed that officials were searching land where people could be shifted on pri-
AS PER STATE DISASTER & MITIGATION DEPT, 233 VILLAGES ACROSS THE STATE WERE MARKED AS DANGEROUS THAT NEEDED IMMEDIATE CHANGE OF PLACE
ority basis.
Some four years ago, during the monsoon, two villages, Jhakla and Leh in the remote Munsyari block in Pithoragarh district were completely washed off, with 45 people being killed.
Villages in Garhwal hills faced a similar disaster last month. In 2010, several children were killed in a massive landslide in Bageshwar district. Earlier, the infamous cloudburst in Malpa in 1998 had killed 207 people, including 60 pilgrims en route to Kailash Mansarovar. Likewise, 15 villagers were killed in Burman village in a heavy landslide in Munsyari in 2007.
A government report says people of 85 villages need immediately relocation. However, so far relocation work is going on only in one village, Narayan Bagar in Rudraprayag district. This village had witnessed massive landslide in the recent past.
The officials had earlier told HT that R600 crore and land is need for relocating all villagers. Now the recent flashfloods have aggravated problem as additional 239 villages are in queue for relocation.
Though post disaster, funding should not be a problem since union and state governments have offered hundreds of crores to rebuild state.