Rs 1,200 crore disaster relief inadequate, national policy must for middle Himalayan regions: Congress

PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE | Dehradun

 Terming the Rs 1,200 crore package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for disaster relief to Uttarakhand as inadequate, former chief minister  and senior Congress leader Harish Rawat said the PM should have announced a national policy to meet the challenge of climate change in the middle Himalayan regions during his visit.

 Interacting with the media persons at Rajiv Bhawan here on Friday, Rawat said the incidents of cloud bursts and landslides triggered by heavy rains are increasing in the middle Himalayan region and its ill effects are visible everywhere.

He said that during the time of UPA government, an eight mission plan was adopted for tackling climate change and one of the missions was for the middle Himalayan region but now the government has forgotten the mission. Rawat said that there are many noted institutes which can undertake research on the subject and prepare a strategy.  Rawat said that the Congress government of the State headed by him had taken a decision that all the debris of the road cuttings will be deposited in designated dumping zones only but now this practice is not being followed.

 Taking a dig at PM Modi, the former CM said that everyone is sombre on the plight of disaster affected people but no effort is being done for their rehabilitation and livelihood. He said that the State government should have waived off the loans of the disaster affected people. He added that the norms of the compensation for the disaster should be revised as the norms of 2014 are still being followed.

Chakrata MLA and former Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Pritam Singh said that the people of the State had hoped that the PM will at least accept the 5700 crore relief sought by the State government. He said that during the UPA government in 2013, the Congress government of Uttarakhand had succeeded in making comprehensive changes in the norms of disaster relief and compensation. Singh said that the State government should do a strong advocacy and demand an adequate package to compensate the losses the State incurred due to the natural disaster.

Provide ownership rights for the slum dwellers- Rawat

 DEHRADUN: Former chief minister Harish Rawat has claimed that a terror of red marks prevails in the slums of the State. He said that some petty officials are threatening slum dwellers in the name of the Rispana- Bindal elevated road project. Rawat said that the Congress government had constituted a committee headed by former MLA Rajkumar for survey of the slums and passed a law on the Vidhan Sabha for regularisation of the slum areas. He said that the government should provide ownership rights for the slum dwellers, failing which the Congress party will launch a massive agitation.