Hearing on a public interest litigation regarding compensation not yet received for damage caused by natural disaster at Munsiyari in Pithoragarh during 2013, the High Court of Uttarakhand has directed the state government to clarify the situation by April 11. The petition was taken up for hearing by the division bench of chief justice Ramesh Ranganathan and justice NS Dhanik.
According to the case details, Pithoragarh resident, retired health officer GS Pangti had filed a PIL in the high court in which he had stated that the natural disaster in 2013 had caused considerable damage in Pithoragarh. The government had announced that compensation would be paid and that land and financial assistance would also be provided to the disaster victims. However, the victims were not able to receive this. Complaint was made to the government and district magistrate, in which it was stated that there were major irregularities in distribution of disaster relief with the victims not receiving financial assistance. In 2017, the Pithoragarh district magistrate had formed a committee to probe this complaint. However, the inquiry into the alleged irregularities has not taken place yet, the petitioner stated. Pangti had appealed the high court to direct that the inquiry into the alleged irregularities be expedited. After hearing both the sides, the high court division bench directed the state government to clarify the situation by April 11.