A one-day public hearing especially for the victims of the June disaster in Uttarakhand brought into light the failure of the State Government to provide relief to the victims, many of whom complained that they had still not been provided proper shelters by the State. The disaster victims complained that the relief and rehabilitation measures announced by the State Government were restricted to official documents and had not been executed effectively as claimed by the authorities.
According to Jandesh organisation secretary lakshman Singh Negi, the state government has failed to introduce any specific policy for the disaster affected. Six months after the disaster, no proper guideline has been issued by the state government to rebuild the calamity hit mountainous regions, he added.
Sachidanand Bharti of Pani Rakho Sansthan, said that the Government has failed to learn any lesson from the recent disaster and has not implemented any policy to safeguard the people of the mountainous regions. He added that Government should establish well settled block level disaster centres in the State. Government has still not formed any proper managing committee to handle such disaster situations. Instead of taking last minute action, Government should find a permanent solution to the disaster related problems, he added.
The victims alleged that during the disaster, people also faced discrimination in relief and rescue efforts of the State. Backward classes faced discrimination while upper class victims were treated properly, they alleged. Shyam lal, a victim from backward class complained that houses of around 71 families of Indira Nagar Colony of Kalsi block were washed away in the June disaster but only 21 families were provided houses as per the government plan. The remaining families are still fighting for their rights in the face of Government apathy.
Victims from Tehri complained that the farmers of around 11 villages have not been compensated by the government for their agricultural land destroyed in the disaster. Kalmi Ram of Urgam valley, Joshimath, complained about the Government’s apathetic attitude towards the valley residents and said that around 227 families of Joshimath were left without any relief by the authorities. They were not given any compensation for their destroyed agricultural lands. The disaster victims should be urgently provided rehabilitation.
Another victim, Kumari Kiran belonging to Parodigaon of Jaunpur said, “We have not yet been provided proper rehabilitation by the Government and have no house to live in. The people here are facing hardships as the basic facilities like toilets, water supply and others are not available in the villages. The main sources of income for the people of rural mountainous regions were agriculture and cattle farming which have been disrupted by the disaster, forcing the victims to seek help from others. Earlier the state Government had also promised to provide at least 100 days job to the victims of disaster but no job has been given yet. We have consistently demanded that the state government relocate the victims to safer place but to no avail,” she said.
Ram Puran Singh, from Tehri said that government had promised to provide rehabilitation to the disaster victims but later Government decided to provide only a prefabricated houses to the victims for which the locals are not ready at all. In the public hearing the torment and misery of the disaster victims were discussed and a final memorandum based on the demands of the victims would be forwarded to the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand to redress it. Around 140 disaster victims from Pithoragarh, Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Tehri and Uttarkashi regions participated and expressed their pain and sufferings.
The public hearing was organised under the aegis of Uttarakhand Jan Karwan Manch in coordination with Action and India, Mount Valley Development Association, Jandesh Chamoli, Uttarakhand Jan Jagriti Sansthan and Arpan. State Human Rights Commission member Justice Rajesh Tandon, ex-member of planning commission, Sachchidanand Bharti, social scientist Virendra Painyuli and activist Biju Negi were present in the hearing.