Those allotted land as compensation for being displaced by the construction of Tehri dam and its reservoir would now be able to sell their lands as the Cabinet subcommittee constituted on the issue has recommended for doing away the mandatory 10-year period clause under which an alottee cannot sell the land.
This decision was taken in the meeting of cabinet sub-committee constituted to look into problems faced by the people affected by the Koteshwar- Tehri hydro power project on Wednesday. The meeting was chaired by State Urban Development minister Pritam Singh Panwar.
The villagers of village Bhansso of Tehri told the subcommittee that four families, which were kept out of category of displaced, are still living there while all other villagers have left the place.
They said that the water of Tehri lake is inundating their courtyards and they are forced to live under dangerous conditions. These villagers are facing the problem as they were not found eligible for being categorized as affected by the reservoir.
On the issue of construction of cremation sites along the periphery of lake, the Director of Tehri Hydro Development Corporation (THDC), D V Singh said that an amount of Rs 5 crore would be released soon to the Tehri district administration for construction of crematoriums. The THDC also took onus for construction of a 1200 meter long safety wall in Chinyalisaur.
On the issue of distribution of only letters of allotments to those offered land or shops as compensation, the THDC officials informed that approval to provide money for registry of lands to the affected is given and proposal is sent to the Union government for clearance.
In its last meeting the cabinet subcommittee had directed the THDC, department of irrigation and district magistrate of Tehri to dispose before it. This decision was taken in view of the fact that the problems of displacement, rehabilitation, compensation amount and allotment of land still persist.
The members of cabinet subcommittee, Education Minister Mantri Prasad Naithani, Tourism minister Dinesh Dhanai and Pratapnagar MlA, Vikram Singh Negi were present in the discussions. The secretary Irrigation, Anand Vardhan, DM Tehri Jyoti Niraj Kherwal, Executive Engineer (EE) irrigation, R R Bhatt, EE rehabilitation D K Singh and General Manager THDC, O S Maurya attended the meeting.