Monday, April 27, 2015

Resettlement begins for left-out Bey families, finally

The relocation and resettlement of the final set of seven affected families of Bey village of Upper Dzongu, North Sikkim, displaced by the 18 September earthquake of 2011, has been long overdue. Construction work on the alternate sites allotted to these families has finally begun. Altogether 18 families from Bey were to be relocated, but the resettlement of these seven families had been delayed because the alternate site allotted to them in Chandey village required extra work and hence, extra funds as well. The funds available under Reconstruction of Earthquake Damage Rural Housing Scheme (REDRH) were not sufficient to undertake construction work at these sites.
To address this problem, it is learnt, that an additional fund of Rs 14 lakh is likely to be sanctioned for the foundation and excavation work of these seven houses.
“Due to the odd location of the alternate sites, costs for head load and construction of foundation went up. So, we made a special request to the government and concerned department for these families who were among the worst affected by the earthquake,” explains North Zilla Adhyaksha, Anguli Lepcha.
“Although late, we are happy that at least the construction has started now,” said one of the affected persons, Rikden Lepcha.
At the moment, work on the foundation of these houses is underway and is expected to be completed in the next few months, informed the JE in-charge, RMDD.  
The displaced families in question are Rikden Lepcha, Karma Lepcha, Kiki Zangmu Lepcha, Samten Lepcha, Ongden Lepcha, Late Topden Lepcha and Rinchen Leda Lepcha.
Bey, falling under Sakyong-Pentong GPU in Upper Dzongu, was one of the worst affected by the 2011 earthquake. The temblor had caused a massive landslide that buried five houses and killed seven people. The village was cut-off and its surviving residents evacuated.
-WANGCHUK BHUTIA

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