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    PIL alleges Kedarnath victims told to return relief money

    Synopsis

    A PIL filed before Uttarakhand HC, alleged that state govt has served notices to victims of 2013 Kedarnath tragedy seeking recovery of compensation.

    TNN
    (This story originally appeared in on Dec 05, 2014)
    NAINITAL: In a PIL filed before the Uttarakhand high court, it has been alleged that the state government has served notices to the victims of the 2013 Kedarnath tragedy seeking recovery of compensation they had been paid.

    Hearing the petition on Friday, a bench of justices V K Bisht and U C Dhyani asked the government to clarify its stand on the issue and submit a reply on the progress of rehabilitation of the 'Himalayan tsunami' victims within four weeks.

    The petitioner's lawyer, V K Kaparwad, told TOI: "The victims were promised a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each. However, the first instalment, reportedly only Rs 1.5 lakh, was the only money they received. Later, they were asked to 'find' land on which they could build houses to avail the rest of the money. When the victims could not find land, they were served notices, seeking the recovery of the initial instalment that they had received."

    "This is bizarre. You pay compensation and then impose conditions on the victims. Hopefully, the court considered the matter with utmost sensitivity and promptness. Now there is at least some hope for the victims of the calamity." he added.

    Kaparwad said the notices for the recovery of compensation are being served since June 2014 and the process is still on. Around 120 notices had been served till the date, the court was told on Friday.

    "The relief for the victims is already delayed. And then the government has been sending out these notices. It seems that the government is not empathetic towards the victims," said Ajendra Ajay, the petitioner who is a resident of Rudraprayag district.

    Ganesh Singh Martolia, deputy inspector general of Kumaon division who had played a key role in the rehabilitation of Kedarnath victims, told TOI that around 3,700 people were affected by the tragedy in Kedarnath and a rehabilitation plan was laid out for compensation in two categories. The first category comprised those dead or missing while the second category included those who had lost their houses in the tragedy.

    Speaking with TOI, a senior government lawyer, said: "The PIL is motivated. The state government would submit in the court all the facts related to the compensation given to people and the procedures followed. The government is committed to providing all possible help to all the victims."


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