Dehradun: Uttarakhand government has identified several villages in disaster prone areas in the state and will soon relocate these villages. During the first phase, only two villages from each district will be located.
According to the state government, a total of 352 villages lying in high seismic zones or facing flood threats have already been identified. These villages will be relocated after approval of budget in upcoming assembly session scheduled to be held in June. A large of village among the 352 villages are located in the Kedar Valley.
In June 2013, the state of Uttarakhand witnessed some of the most disastrous events in its history in the form of a multi-day cloudburst, devastating floods and landslides. This was also India’s worst natural disaster since 2004 tsunami. The state experienced larger than normal rainfall, resulting in blocking up and overflow of rivers due to debris. In Kedarnath, thousands of people died on June 15. Destruction of roads and bridges left more than 110,000 tourists trapped in the valleys. These people were later evacuated by the Indian Air Force, the Indian Army, and paramilitary troops.
The earlier Congress government had proposed relocation of villages after the 2013 disaster in the state, although no action has been taken since then.
“A second round of video conferencing was held with the district magistrate on Thursday in this regard. We have asked the DMs to identify two villages each in their respective districts, which are located in disaster prone areas, so they can be shifted first.” Secretary, disaster management, Amit Negi, told Times of India.
“It is an extremely difficult task as we have to collect even the minutest of details of each villages, their residents, profession, the compensation to be given to them, whether a person owned a house or was staying on rent and the size of land to be given to them,” said Negi.
Presently, the finance department is finalizing the budge for this relocation exercise. According to officials, there are several challenges in identifying the locations where the villages will be shifted.
There is already shortage of land in districts like Dehradun, Haridwar, and Udham Singh Nagar, and if villages are relocated in hilly districts, authorities will need to take permission from the forest department which is a lengthy and cumbersome process.
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