PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Dehradun
The spokesperson of Uttarakhand Congress Pratima Singh has said that the State government has proved to be a failure in providing adequate compensation and relief to the disaster affected people of Dharali, Uttarkashi even after one year.
She said that the catastrophe, which struck Dharali on August 5, 2025, claimed dozens of innocent lives and reduced hundreds of families’ homes, hotels and their primary source of livelihood to heaps of rubble.
She said that the ground reality is that even after a year, the affected people are struggling, while the government is merely trying to hide its failure in paper work and meagre compensation.
The Congress spokesperson claimed that the local businessmen in Dharali, whose hotels, guest houses and homestays worth crores of rupees were reduced to rubble, were given a very less compensation amount in the name of disaster relief manual.
“Despite the devastated apple orchards and the widespread damage to livelihoods, the government remains so insensitive. Hundreds of apple orchards, considered the backbone of the livelihoods of Dharali and the Harshil Valley, remain buried under debris. The government has completely failed to restore the land and provide long-term economic packages to farmers,’’ she said.
Singh added that even after a year, the government has not been able to identify any safe land for the permanent rehabilitation of displaced families. She said that despite the geological sensitivity of the area, the government has not formulated any long-term safety plan.
