The woes of the Tehri dam-affected people continues over the years with the principal recommendations of the Centre-appointed Hanumant Rao Committee remaining unimplemented. Here, heavy rain still wreaks havoc because of the laid-back attitude of the successive State Governments and the district administration.
Notably, the Centre had appointed the Hanumant Rao Committee way back in 1996 to look into rehabilitation and environmental issues pertaining to Tehri dam. It comprised secretary and director level officers working for Government of India, Uttar Pradesh and THDC. The report which was submitted in 1998 categorically recommended that the posts of the DM and the rehabilitation director should be kept separate. It said that it was an imperative to ensure speedy rehabilitation work. However, things on the ground have proved different, as from 1998 to 2011, the two posts have been kept separate for a few years.
The critical refrain runs that the number of people affected by Tehri dam residing in 25 villages in Bhagirathi valley and 19 in Bhilangana valley is enormous. Prem Dutt Juyal who has remained in the vanguard of the movement that demands these people’s prompt rehabilitation said that their condition is pitiable with the administration initiating no rehabilitation measure for them.
He further informed that in 2010, an expert committee had recommended following its visit in the areas immediate relocation and rehabilitation. But things keep on hanging fire because of the administrative nonchalance, he said.
Mention worthy, against the quake sensitivity index, Tehri dam area is located in zone IV and V. The people living in the vicinity of the lake are scared, thinking that any seismic movement might cause the area sink in the lake.
Asked whether it is good to leave rehabilitation-related works to the DM in defiance of the Hanumant Rao Committee recommendation, several district administrative officers answered in the negative, saying that the posts- important by themselves-should be kept separate to ensure smooth and effective functioning of both. “Besides, as per the committee’s recommendation, only an IAS officer should be made rehabilitation director. This being another important recommendation should be implemented in all seriousness.
But things are otherwise here, to the worsening of the woes of the affected,” rued an administrative officer while insisting on anonymity. However, Tehri DM Neeraj Jyoti Khairwal said that he was having no problem while handling both the posts. “I am discharging both the duties well, sans any problem,” he added.