In the aftermath of the 2013 disaster, the authorities had stated that rescue and rehabilitation procedures had been systematised to enable better mitigation and response efficiency in case of future disaster scenarios. However, some of the victims still complain that they neither received financial assistance nor were they resettled and rehabilitated to secure locations. The disaster affected residents of Bagi village in Tehri rendered homeless following a cloudburst on August 15, 2014 are also still struggling in the absence of necessary assistance from the authorities. They have demanded that the Government do the needful without further delay.
It is pertinent to mention here that 18 homes were destroyed at Bagi village in Chamba development block of Tehri district following a cloudburst in August 2014. At that time, the State authorities had facilitated temporary accommodation for the disaster affected families in the nearby Government inter college in addition to providing immediate assistance of Rs one lakh to each of the disaster affected families.
The affected families had sought swift rehabilitation, in response to which the administration spoke of providing them land to re-settle at Saud Namay Tok but the villagers refused to take the land offered without a proper geological survey to ascertain vulnerability of the area.
Some of the disaster affected families have remained uncertain stating that the land being offered to the victims could also be geologically sensitive and vulnerable to disaster scenario. The situation at present is such that neither has the sought geological survey been conducted yet, nor have the affected families been offered land in alternate locations.
The families who had lost their homes and most of the rest of their possessions in the disaster have continued to face hardships and depend on their relatives and family members in whose homes they have been sheltering two years past the disaster. Considering the poor financial status of the disaster affected villagers, after some months the Hans Foundation had come forward to help providing Rs50,000 to each of the affected families.
One of these disaster victims, Chaitram Bijalwan told this correspondent that at that time the disaster affected families had told the authorities that they would accept the land being offered only after a geological survey is undertaken to ascertain the level of disaster-vulnerability.
However, with no geological probe being conducted so far the process of rehabilitation and resettlement has remained stuck in limbo. He said, “Those who had lost their homes and all the rest of their possessions in the 2014 disaster have been provided plots for construction of two-room homes so far. The State Government must speed up effort to ensure that no further delay is made in resettlement and rehabilitation of the disaster affected families,” he said.