SC directs govt to provide adequate relief for Tehri dam evacuees
The Supreme Court today directed Uttarakhand government and Tehri Development Corporation to take urgent steps to provide rehabilitation and succour to those displaced and affected by the construction of Tehri dam.
A Bench of Justices R V Ravindran and Justice A K Patnaik asked the state and the Corporation to provide funds for rehabilitation of 158 additional affected families in 26 villages who had been left out during the previous surveys for rehabilitation and compensation. The court ordered construction of three bridges within a year at Dobra, Ghonti and Chinyali Saur to facilitate connectivity to local people that has been disrupted due to the project.
Pending completion of the bridges, the people should be provided with ferry boat services on both sides of the lake on Bhagirathi and Bhilangana valley or alternatively ropeway facilities as the dam has created a reservoir of around 42 sq km. It asked the government to construct new roads connecting the affected areas. About 400 shopkeepers, whose businesses have been affected due to the displacement, should be rehabilitated and compensated adequately, the Bench said. The apex court ordered that public buildings or institutions that have been submerged or affected due to the dam should be reconstructed by the government.
It asked the authorities to complete within four months the three promised drinking water schemes--Koshiyar Tal pumping scheme, Sarjyula pumping scheme and Pratap nagar pumping scheme. Justice Raveendran, heading the Bench, asked the grievance redressal cell to expeditiously dispose of pending rehabiliation cases and ensure that no affected family goes without rehabilitation. It directed the matter to be listed for further hearing after six months.
Senior counsel Colin Gonzalves and counsel Anita Shenoy and Sanjay Parekh appeared for petitioners in the case who had complained about tardy rehabilitation measures.
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