Statements of leaders, officers contradictory on compensation to Joshimath families: Congress
Friday, 13 January 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
Expressing concern on what he termed contradicting statements of the leaders and the officers over the compensation to be given to the affected families in Joshimath, the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president, Karan Mahara has said there is no coordination between the government and the officers of administration. He said that the State government has adopted a lackadaisical attitude in the Joshimath land subsidence issue and it lacks seriousness required to deal with the situation. He said that on one hand the chief minister is talking about providing compensation at the market rate and on the other the picture is still not clear. The PCC president said that the talks of the local people with the officer designated by the State government have reportedly failed. He said that the Congress has decided to hold a protest march to the residence of the CM due to these contradictions. Mahara declared that the Congress party has authorised senior leader Manish Khanduri and local MLA Rajendra Bhandari to prepare a report after consultation with the experts and environmentalists on the Joshimath crisis. The party is also going through the demands and aspirations of the local people and then the party would decide its future course of action. Mahara said that the pressure and suggestion of Congress party forced the CM to hold a night stay in Joshimath but added that not even a single minister has camped in the city so far. Launching an attack on the President of Uttarakhand BJP, Mahendra Bhatt, the PCC president said that Bhatt who has represented the area twice in the State assembly has visited Joshimath only once that too as a mere formality.
He demanded that the State government should provide compensation as per the Badrinath plan according to which a sum of Rs 76 lakh per Nali should be given to the displaced families. He added that the compensation of the residential buildings should be done at the market rate.
