Lacks clarity’: Joshimath residents on rehabilitation, resettlement proposal

Himanshu Khurana, the Chamoli district magistrate, presented three solutions on Monday for the rehabilitation and resettling of the households impacted by the ground subsidence that occurred in Joshimath town.Locals in Joshimath were unimpressed with the three choices presented by the Chamoli district government for the rehabilitation and resettlement of effected people subsidence because they felt they lacked "clarity."One of the town's impacted residents, Jagdish Negi, said that although "we are satisfied with the one-time payout," they should "clarify the rate of compensation." "Building a house in the hills is an uphill effort and costs a lot of money," is appropriate.As a result of cracks appearing in their home, Digambar Rawat and his family have been residing in a relief camp at the Nagar Palika Parishad building since January 3 "They should first make it clear that they would be allocating property. How would they make a choice? Would someone get paid more if they resided in a desirable area along the Badrinath Highway? They haven't settled on a payment rate even for the one-time settlement alternative.The space that they have offered to grant to the afflicted households is insufficient, according to Nain Singh Bhandari, president of Joshimath Vyapar Mandal. Second, it's unclear from the alternatives what % over market pricing we will be compensated. Thirdly, there is uncertainty over how they would pay for commercial structures, and the proposals make no mention of the economic operations in question.It is only a proposal, according to Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti convenor Atul Sati. That is also unclear. The policy framework for the government's approach to the impacted people's rehabilitation is yet forthcoming. These are only bits of knowledge."They haven't specified at what rate they will pay the compensation," says the author. We had urged them to take into account the Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy of the centre from 2007, which applies to all facets of society, including businesspeople.

The state cabinet will now receive the suggestions. Let's wait and see how the cabinet will approve the suggestions, he remarked.In the first of the three solutions put out by the district administration, a one-time settlement will be accomplished by giving the impacted landowners cash help. Payment shall be paid in accordance with the established requirements as compensation for the harm done to the damaged structure or property. Prior to completing the complete payment, the affected person's land or structure must be registered in their favour.The affected owners will be allocated land up to a maximum area of 100 square metres for home building in relation to the affected land under the second option, and compensation will be given for the damaged structure. The affected landowners will be compensated for any additional land that exceeds 100 square metres in accordance with the rules.The third option is the construction of a structure on the property with a maximum area of 75 square metres at the designated location for the rehabilitation of the impacted. The difference shall be given to the affected if the value of the impacted residential building or land exceeds the value of the land or accommodations provided.Before moving further, the concerned disaster-affected land or building must be registered in the state government's favour, much like the other two choices.The three possibilities for the affected people's rehabilitation will be discussed in the government level's cabinet meeting.The final results from the technical organisations analysing the situation, according to Dr. Ranjit Kumar Sinha, secretary for disaster management, won't be available until after that.