‘Lacks clarity’: Joshimath residents on rehabilitation, resettlement proposal

The three proposals by the Chamoli district administration for the rehabilitation and resettlement of affected people in land subsidence hit Joshimath did not go well with the locals as they said the options ‘lacked clarity’.

Chamoli district magistrate Himanshu Khurana on Monday proposed three options for the rehabilitation and resettlement of the affected families in land subsidence that hit Joshimath town.

The information was shared during the meeting of the high-powered committee on the Joshimath crisis which was presided over by additional chief secretary Anand Vardhan.

According to Jagdish Negi, an affected person in the town, “We are okay with the one-time settlement but they should clarify the rate of compensation. It should be adequate. In the hills, building a house is an uphill task and requires a lot of money.”

Digambar Rawat, who has been living in a relief camp since January 3 at Nagar Palika Parishad building after their house developed cracks, said, “First they should make it clear they would allot land. How would they decide? If somebody lived in a good locality close to Badrinath highway, would they be paid better? Even in the one-time settlement option, they have not cleared at which rate they will pay.”

Nain Singh Bhandari, president of Joshimath Vyapar Mandal said, “The area that they have proposed to allot to the affected families is not adequate. Secondly, the options lack clarity on how much percentage above the market rate we will be paid. Thirdly, the proposals say nothing about the business activities affected here and there is ambiguity about how they would pay for commercial structures.”

Atul Sati, convenor of Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti, said, “It is just a proposal. That too lacks clarity. The government’s policy framework for the rehabilitation of affected people is yet to come. These are just pieces of information.”

“They have not made it clear at which rate they will pay the compensation. We had asked them to consider the centre’s Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy, 2007, which covers every section of society, including businessmen. The proposals will now go to the state cabinet. Let’s see in which form the proposals are passed by the cabinet,” he said.

Of the three options proposed by the district administration, in the first, a one-time settlement will be done by providing financial assistance to the affected landowners. As compensation for the damage to the affected land/building, payment will be made as per the prescribed standards. Before making the full payment, the land/building of the affected person will have to be registered in favour of the state government.

Under the second option, land up to a maximum area of 100 square metres will be provided to the affected owners for house construction relative to the affected land, and compensation will be given for the affected structure. In case of more than 100 square metres of land, the affected landowners will be paid for the rest of the land according to the norms.

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.

Like two other options, the registry of the concerned disaster-affected land/building will have to be done in favour of the state government before proceedings.

The three options suggested for the rehabilitation of the affected people will come up during the cabinet at the government level.

However, Dr Ranjit Kumar Sinha, secretary, disaster management, said it would only be clear if rehabilitation is required from the affected areas after the final reports of the technical agencies studying the situation.

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, Sinha said.