Long road home: Uttarakhand increasingly declares villages disaster-prone
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Following the June floods, the district administration has advised the 14 households to temporarily shift to a school in Chaklata village located downhill. Over time, these families will be relocated to another village, Subhai, located 5 km uphill. Instead of offering relief, the process has aggravated the agony of the residents.
Among the many people in Raini who continue living in their cracked houses is the 50-year-old Tanuja Devi, who allege that the administration has failed to ensure the safety of people and their wares. Through a notice from the Joshimath tehsildar on June 16, 2021, pasted outside her house, Tanuja has been advised to relocate to the Chaklata school.
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Between 2012 and 2021, the government has identified 465 villages from where families need to be relocated, as per a release by the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority (USDMA) on June 7, 2021. During this period, 1,101 families in only 44 villages have been relocated, says S A Murugesan, secretary, USDMA.
The resentment among people is high because most feel their plight to a large extent is state-sponsored. While the government has left no stone unturned to make the region vulnerable to natural calamities, it has not been prompt enough to rehabilitate people who are now falling victim to the disasters.
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