Describing rebuilding infrastructure and mitigating hardships of the people living in natural calamity affected areas across the State as its top priority, the State Government unveiled projects worth crores of rupees, has done little to restore even the minimum basic services in disaster-affected villages of upper Himalayan region of Pithoragarh where people continue to do without basic services like electricity since June last.
The matter of concern is that there was not a single project proposed for restoring electricity in dozens of disaster affected villages belonging to Dharchula and upper Himalayan region of Pithoragarh district among many a number of projects unveiled in Pithoragarh on Sunday last.
As it is reported, there are several villages belonging to Dharchula and upper Himalayan region in Pithoragarh which are still doing without electricity since June last when the natural calamity hit lives and properties hard there.
As the security experts have cautioned the respective Governments time again about the importance of keeping international border area villages populated, equipping them with necessary basic infrastructure when security challenges are increasingly becoming tough.
But the respective State Governments have badly failed to address the basic concern of the border area villages. Devastating natural calamities as have been witnessed in the past only expose the tall claims that the respective State Governments make to the beleaguered citizens of these villages.
It is quite surprising to know that, as the officials concerned of the Pithorgarh district administration claim, developmental projects worth `107 crore were unveiled on Sunday last. But there was no any such electricity related project that could power many a border area villages belonging to Dharchula or upper Himalayan region in that border district.
In the meanwhile, the district administration, Pithoragarh, has asked the officials concerned of the ITBP, BRO and SSB to submit proposals for use of solar light in the upper Himalayan region.
Besides, it has also stressed on the need to expedite works on all proposals including land transfer related matters so that developmental works could be completed on time.
Though Chief Minister Harish Rawat has tried to show how serious is his Government about mitigating hardships of the people living in the disaster affected areas, it is to be seen how quickly it manages to restore even the minimum basic services in the disaster stricken areas in the Himalayan state, overcoming the bureaucratic hurdles.