Additional Chief Secretary Shri Anand Vardhan today chaired a high powered committee meeting on the issues of Joshimath .
03 options for rehabilitation and displacement were presented by DM Chamoli, committee to present these options before the sate Cabinet
Consent will be obtained from the affected families/individuals as per the above proposed options only after receiving the final report of the technical institutions.
Dehradun. Secretary Disaster Management Dr. Ranjit Kumar Sinha on Monday informed the media about the work being done related to relief and rescue and permanent/temporary rehabilitation etc. by the state government in Joshimath city area at Media Center, Secretariat. He informed that Additional Chief Secretary Mr. Anand Vardhan today chaired a high powered committee meeting on the issues of relief, rehabilitation and various other woks going on in Joshimath . The committee was informed in the meeting that 03 options have been presented by the District Magistrate, Chamoli, for the rehabilitation and displacement of the affected in Joshimath.
In the first option, one time settlement will be done by providing financial assistance to the affected land owners. As compensation for the damage to the affected land/building, payment will be made for the land/building as per the prescribed standards by making one time settlement. Before making the full payment, the land/building of the affected person will have to be registered in favor of the state government. Under the second option, land up to a maximum area of 100 square meters will be provided to the affected land-building owners for house construction relative to the affected land and compensation will be given for the affected building. In case of more than 100 square meters of land, the affected landowners will be paid for the rest of the land according to the norms. Before making the full payment to the affected land/building owners and before allotting land up to a maximum area of 100 square meters for house construction, the registry of the land/building of the disaster affected person will have to be done in favor of the state government. Under the third option, a building will be constructed on the land up to the maximum area of 75 square meters at the identified place for the rehabilitation of the affected. If the valuation of the affected residential building/land is more than the land/accommodation being provided, then the remaining amount will be paid to the affected. Before allotting building tax on the land up to the maximum area of 75 square meters relative to the affected land building, the registry of the concerned disaster affected land/building will have to be done in favor of the State Government. Finding suitable the above three options proposed in relation to rehabilitation by the District Magistrate, Chamoli, it has been recommended to present the case before the Honorable Cabinet at the government level.
Secretary Disaster Management said that only after the final report of the survey being conducted by various technical institutions is received in relation to the disaster affected area in Joshimath, it would be clear that which area is to be displaced permanently. After receiving the report, consent will be obtained from the affected families/persons according to the above proposed options. After that PIU will take action for permanent rehabilitation at the local level. Only after receiving the final report of the technical institutes, a decision will also be taken regarding the works related to mitigation of disaster/stabilization of the area, toe erosion, drainage plan etc.
Instructions were also given by the High Powered Committee that along with disaster affected families/individuals of Joshimath area, action should be taken to waive electricity/water bills for 06 months for disaster affected commercial establishments. 03 schools have been affected in Joshimath disaster affected area. Students studying in these schools have been transferred to other schools. School has been arranged for the students of Marwari area in another school located about 12 km away, in view of which it was decided by the committee that free transportation should be arranged by the District Magistrate, Chamoli to bring and take the students of Marwari area. Labourers working in the commercial establishment, whose employment has been affected shall be given financial assistance as given at the time of Covid-19. Separate financial assistance after the survey shall be provided. Instructions with a proposal regarding this has been given to DM Chamoli. A high level meeting with the representatives of NTPC, MoRTH and BRO has also been recommended by the committee.
Instructions have been given by the committee to convene a meeting of the Inter-Departmental Coordination and Grievance Redressal Committee constituted under the chairmanship of Commissioner Garhwal Mandal. A high-level meeting has been recommended by the committee with the tourism department regarding Auli ropeway. The DM has proposed to give funds for retrofitting of those houses/buildings in the Joshimath area which have small cracks and in case the land is found safe. The cracks coming in the land of Bahuguna Nagar, ITI area, Upper Bazar, Sakri Sera, Eena Badhani area, above CMP band of Municipal area, Karnaprayag area were brought to the notice of the committee by the Hon’ble Member of Legislative Assembly of Karnaprayag constituency. It was informed by the committee to the MLA that the geophysical survey is underway by the concerned institutions of the Government of India in the affected area and the above study will be concluded at a speedy pace for further action.
Secretary Disaster Management informed that the water discharge in Joshimath which was initially 540 LPM on January 06, 2023, has reduced to 67 LPM at present. There has been no increase in the number of cracked buildings in the area. The number of cracked buildings is only 863. In Joshimath, an amount of Rs 3.53 crore has been distributed to 235 land owners and Rs 60.50 lakh to 121 tenants. 181 building is in unsafe zone. 253 families have been temporarily displaced for security reasons. The number of displaced family members is 920. 43 affected families have moved to their relatives’ or rented houses. Secretary Disaster Management informed that there are a total of 661 rooms in the temporarily identified relief camps in Joshimath with a capacity of 2957 people and 491 rooms in Pipalkoti with a capacity of 2205 people. 01 area/wards have been declared unsafe in Gandhinagar, 02 in Singhdhar, 05 in Manoharbagh, 07 in Sunil.
