It has been a long and excruciating wait for the kith and kin of those 252 pilgrims killed in Uttarakhand flood tragedy in June 2013. More than 10 months have elapsed since calamity struck, but the lackadaisical approach of officials of Delhi and Uttarakhand has led to inordinate delay in disbursement of compensation and other procedures. None of the victims’ families have received the Rs 5 lakh compensation promised, which was to be shared between Delhi and Uttarakhand Governments, till date as several gaping holes exist and officials offer lame excuses such as lack of verification, absence of family of those killed in the tragedy.
Two elections in a short span and imposition of the Model Code of Conduct have further aggravated the agony of those waiting for compensation. Earlier, there was a change of guard at Uttarakhand and Delhi as well, which further pushed back the verification of those who died in the tragedy. According to Delhi Government’s Revenue Department data, a total of 252 people were found missing from Delhi and were declared dead. Of these, Uttarakhand Government had issued death certificates to 143 people of Delhi. The Government had announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin.
Sources said that due to the apathetic attitude of officials of the Revenue Department, verification process of the victims of Uttarakhand tragedy is yet to be initiated. The minutes of the meeting to take stock of the progress in the verification process of victims of Uttarakhand tragedy is with The Pioneer. It reveals how babus have offered feeble justification for the delay in verification. Sources said some babus informed no inquiry was conducted since the case did not pertain to their district while others stated they could not locate the families of the victims. “An official even stated in the meeting he had no time to verify the victims’ family,” said sources.
Shweta Nautiyal, a resident of Mayur Vihar Phase I, lost five family members to the floods. “Ours was a joint family. We used to live in a large house with my in-laws. But after the tragedy, which took away my father-in-law and the family of my brother-in-law, including his two children, we decided to shift into a smaller house. We have placed all photographs and other memorabilia in a closet, but the memories cannot be locked away,” she said.
Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) officials said that they have issued a public notice about death certificates of 143 people, including more than 40 children, who went missing in the Uttarakhand tragedy so that family members can stake claims. “In the next 30 days, we are going to issue certificates and the compensation amount to all family members,” a DDMA official said.
House No F-13, laxmi Nagar — this address has lost most of its occupants in the tragedy. Twenty two people from this house and some neighbours had left for Char Dham Yatra in June and after six months of search, they too have been declared dead. Sanjay Sharma, an 18-year-old boy, whose parents and younger sibling are missing, says he has been visiting the tehsildar regularly to get the death certificates of his parents. Most people, who were stuck in Kedarnath on that day have died, said a senior Government official.