940 rural houses inaugurated on Earthquake anniv.

15 REDRH and 3 CMRHM houses were handed over to the respective beneficiaries at Ranka BAC on the third anniversary of 18/11 Earthquake on Thursday. The handing over ceremony was attended by Gram Vikas Adhikari, Ranka BAC, NT Bhutia, Zilla panchayat, Surya Bahadur Rai, panchayat members, AE and JEs and other officials of the Ranka BAC. 

Owning a home of our own is a dream often not easy to achieve. But for 940 rural households of Sikkim, this dream will turn into a reality as they moved into their new homes on 18 Sept 2014 in a mass inauguration function organized to mark the third anniversary of the devastating Sikkim Earthquake of 2011.
Out of the 940 rural houses inaugurated, 665 houses have been funded under the Reconstruction of Earthquake Damaged Rural Houses (REDRH) project and 275 under the Chief Minister’s Rural Housing Mission (CMRHM).
The philosophy of Build Back Better has been the guiding strategy for both these projects. The homeowner-driven implementation model has been adopted and it has helped to establish a sense of ownership and identity with the beneficiaries. An efficient and transparent mechanism of beneficiary selection, stock material management, physical progress monitoring and simplification of the technical elements has been established. The core house design, building standards, construction material (cement and steel), technical supervision and capital has been provided by the project. The home-owner undertook the actual construction, procured local construction material (stone, sand, timber etc), arranged for mason and labour and also added their own finances. Skills upgradation trainings for the masons and engineers were specially organized in partnership with IIT-Delhi.
In order to make this approach effective, the provision of grant was made contingent upon meeting minimum standards for good construction quality.

[from Rural Management & Development Department]

Sikkim rebuilds

3,000 HOUSES CONSTRUCTED UNDER RECONSTRUCTION OF EARTHQUAKE DAMAGED RURAL HOUSES SCHEME SO FAR, 4972 ON THE WAY - 
SUBASH RAI
In the aftermath of the 2011 earthquake, the State Government launched an ambitious project called Reconstruction of Earthquake Damaged Rural Houses [REDRH] with the view to reconstruct rural houses damaged by the quake. The government resolved to reconstruct a total of 7,972 houses damaged during the earthquake with the unit cost of Rs 4.89 lakh per house with a total central allocation of Rs 391 crore over a period of three financial years 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14. The project is fully funded under the Prime Minister’s Special Relief Package from the Planning Commission.
As of now, data from the Rural Management and Development Department reveals that of the 7,972 allotments, 3000 houses have been completed and handed over to the beneficiaries.
As per RMDD Special Secretary, Dr. Sandeep Tambe, the remaining 4,972 houses are in various stages of construction and the government is planning to handover 500-plus houses to beneficiaries on 18 September next week on the third anniversary of the 18/11 earthquake.
RMDD Secretary, DR Nepal, further informs that the aim is to hand over all 7,972 REDRH houses to beneficiaries by December 2014.
On complaints from the beneficiaries/ contractors of late supply of materials and funds, Mr. Nepal informs that the scheme is fully Centrally-sponsored and the State Government has to depend on the Centre for funds to be released. This can take time sometimes.
“We submitted the Utilization Certificate to the Central Government in the month of December 2013 but due to Parliamentary elections which came in between, the funds have not been released so far,” he said adding that the State Government has received assurance that the funds will be released any moment now.
As per the White Paper of the State Government on the high intensity earthquake of 18th September 2011 [released in December 2012], the Government has given the following reasons on why progress of REDRH scheme appears slow:
• Finalizing the technical house design took time: Consultation with experts and others
• Finalizing the strategy for stock material purchase and management which is transparent and fair. 23 lakh bags of cement and 2lakh quintals of TMT bars need to be not only purchased transparently, but also provided to 7,972 destinations as per requirement without pilferages
• Establishment of Block Level Stores for the first time
• Prioritizing 7,972 of the total12,548 beneficiaries following a transparent criteria in special gram sabhas
• Inadequate staff at Block level: Existing technical staff at the Block level (1 AE and 3 JEs) are already constructing 6,000 houses under Rural Housing Mission and implementing flagship programs like MGNREGA, IAY, NRDWP, TSC, BRGF, NSAP and various other state programmes
• Shortage of masons and labour: Already 6,000 houses under REDRH are under various stages of construction
• There is an acute shortage of masons and labour to build the houses.

The REDRH houses are of RCC frame with a slab roof and having a plinth area of 605 square feet. However, in few remote areas, option of GCI roofing has been provided. The total floor area of the house should not be less than 605 sq feet and RCC with 9 columns (1 feet x 1 feet) and RCC beams of (1feet x 1 feet). The walls should be half brick walling over RCC frame and flooring should be Cement Concrete with RCC Slab 4 inches thick roofing which include minimum one toilet along with septic tank.


Monitoring & Evaluation
• Special Monitors: 29 senior officers from the Govt of Sikkim of the rank of Special Secretary have been assigned the task of monitoring each Block along with 29 supporting officers
• District Level Monitoring: By District Level Committee headed by the District Collector.

17 housewarmings at Turuk-Ramabung in one day thanks to REDRH and CMRHM

GANGTOK, 18 June: A total of 15 RED-RH and two CMRHM homes were inaugurated and handed over today to beneficiaries at Turuk-Ramabung Gram Panchayat Unit in South Sikkim by Minister Tulshi Devi Rai, who also happens to be the area MLA. Ms. Rai visited all the beneficiaries at their new homes and congratulated them.

One of the beneficiaries under the CMRHM  scheme from Lower Ramabung was clearly overwhelmed and tried hard to hold back her tears as she said, “Thank you our beloved Chief Minister Pawan Chamling for giving us this building which was beyond our imagination. We never thought we would live in a building. A father cannot provide such a building to his sons but our pro-poor government made the dreams of the poor true”. She also thanked the area MLA, the GVA, AE and Panchayats of the area.

Out of 192 homes commissioned under REDRH, 67 have been completed till date and handed over to the beneficiaries and the rest scheduled for completion within the next two- three months, informs the AE, Sumbuk GVA, Sandeep Khatiwada.

The GVA, Dinesh Pradhan, adds that from the 200 CMRHM constructions, 110 have been completed and handed over and that the remaining 90 houses are on the verge of completion.

Minister Rai urged the Assistant Engineer and the Gram Vivash Adhikari and the Panchayats to complete the remaining houses as early as possible.

In South Sikkim, 42 REDRH and CMRHM homes inaugurated in one day PURAN TAMANG

NAMCHI, 18 June: The Reconstruction of Earthquake Damaged Rural Houses, as the name suggests, was a scheme launched to provide homes to families which had lost theirs to the 18 September 2011 earthquake. Accordingly, on the 18^th of each month, the government inaugurates houses completed under REDRH. Today, 18 June 2014, a total of 42 houses at 8 blocks of South district were inaugurated in presence of respective GVAs, Zilla Panchayats and Gram Panchayat members.

Among the houses inaugurated today were 6 houses under Namchi GVK, 7 houses under Jorethang GVK,  10 houses under Melli GVK, and 7 houses under Namthang GVK. Similarly, 3 houses under Yangang GVK, 4 houses under Ravang GVK, 2 houses under Sikkip GVK and 3 houses under Temi GVK.

Out of the 1,711 houses allotted under REDRH to families in South Sikkim,  about 390 houses have already been handed over to the beneficiaries while the  remaining 1,321 houses are in various stages of construction and targeted for completion by the end of the year.

Surface runoff imperils under construction REDRH home at Namrang

MANGAN, 17 Apr: A house belonging to Narad Gautam being constructed under the Reconstruction of Earthquake Damaged Rural Houses [REDRH] scheme at Namrang in East Sikkim is at risk of damage owing to water flowing down the road towards the house. Lack of proper drainage along the newly constructed PMGSY road at Namrang leads to water flowing onto the roads and down to the house which is located below the road.

According to Mr. Gautam, he had requested the contractor of the road several times to construct proper drainage system but nothing has been done so far. He has again requested that the problem be addressed immediately since his house is in danger and he has no other place to shift to.