Early Times Report
Srinagar, Oct 15: The Supreme Court appointed panel has recommended that the amount paid to the people, whose structures have been washed away or damaged by the floods is insufficient and a paltry one.
"By no stretch of imagination, it can be termed to be adequate for re-building or repairing the houses," the report said, adding, "No relief under SDRF has been paid to any person. In Some cases, compensation has been paid to next of the kin for dead but in case of others it has not been so paid because of not recovering the dead bodies. No efforts has however, been made to recover those dead bodies in time," the report said.
It has also recommended appointment of engineers to examine whether or not the houses hit by floods in Kashmir are still habitable.
"This job has otherwise been left to Naib Tehsildar and Patwaries who are no experts," says the report in one of the conclusions made in the report prepared by one of the five members appointed by the apex court to assess the ground situation following the floods last month.
"No effort was made by the Government and its agencies to dewater the areas where flood has entered and had caused havoc, as a result of which, those houses have also collapsed, which were not initially affected by the floods," the report says.
It said that even after entering of flood waters in the villages, towns and offices, no effort was made by Government to evacuate the people and settle the temporarily at some safer piece.
"This task was either left to be done by the civilians or to some volunteers," reads the report recently submitted by the panel before Supreme Court of India.
As to whether the relief has reached to the affected people, the report said that there is no account of that with any one?
"It is because of the said reason that 51 truckloads of rice was forcibly taken by Superintendent of police. Budgam and stored somewhere else," the report reveals.
The report further said that where relief has come from outside, it has been distributed by some NGOs in an unfair and unjust manner.
"There is no record of these NGO's anywhere. They have no-doubt provided relief material to certain areas, but not to the one which needed it most," the report said
The report further said that no checks and balances have been placed on NGO's in the course of distribution of relief.
"Any NGO whether registered or un-registered, on its liking has gone to any area and provided material to the people, without knowing as to where from it came and what was the quantity of the relief sent and what was the one distributed," reads the report.
"The Government has utterly failed to provide aid and assistance to the people. No permanent medical camps have been established anywhere to provide medical aid and assistance to the people," reads the report.
The report said that in some areas, people have been given free ration after 17-9-2014, but in some other areas, they have been forced to pay and no free ration has been provided to them while in some areas people are eve waiting for the ration of October 2014.
"In some areas, compensation has been paid for the fully or partially damaged houses, but in certain areas, no survey has been made and no relief hat been paid to them," the report adds. |
