Relief and reconstruction works in natural disaster–affected areas in Pithoragarh seem to have been consigned to the back burner with the State Government having released only Rs1 crore out of Rs27 crore as demanded for the same purpose.
In the light of Chief Minister Harish Rawat’s announcement of a host of populist schemes worth more than Rs100 crore during his two visits of Pithoragarh in October and recently this month, the delay in the release of the funds for a long time, meant for relief for the victims of the natural disaster-hit areas of Pithoragarh, has not gone down well with the people of the region.
According to the district administration Pithoragarh, it had demanded Rs27 crore for relief and reconstruction works in the disaster-hit areas.
The officials concerned of the district administration have said, only Rsone crore has been released so far.
Notably, Pithoragarh is one of the districts of Uttarakhand where the natural calamities brought a huge scale of damage. The matter of concern is that there are several areas, including Gangolihat’s Patarvada and Berina’s Aamfal-Kasari village in Pithoragarh where the people, affected due to natural calamities, are yet to get relief, though, as the officials claim, efforts are on to provide relief to them.
Besides, houses are still under construction for many families who lost their hearth and home in 2013 monsoon in different parts of Pithoragarh.
Mention worthy, if natural disasters cannot be prevented their impact can definitely be minimised by way of providing prompt relief to the needy and taking certain other precautionary measures.
But delay in the release of funds in carrying out the relief operations in the disaster- affected areas like Pithoragarh only contradicts the basic principle of providing prompt relief to the disaster victims.
The State Government is going to take certain steps under its disaster management norms review plan like an increase in the compensatory amount that is given to the kin of the deceased from Rs3 lakh to Rslakh, as the officials concerned said.
Besides, it is also going to do registration of domestic animals so that compensation could be granted to those farmers who lose their cattle in the natural disaster, further said the officials concerned.
Similarly, given Uttarakhand's mountainous character, the Government is also going to take certain other measures to ensure fast dispatch of relief to the needy in the aftermath of a natural calamity, if necessary, even by relaxing the disaster management rules. But the delay in the release of the funds, as has been in the case of Pithoragarh, would not serve any purpose.