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Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Affected Chungthang residents demand compensation from Teesta Urja for loss of life and property to the Earthquake

GANGTOK, 01 Nov: Now that much of the confusion, uncertainty and apprehension surrounding the earthquake, its damages and subsequent assessment have settled down and with things appearing to be returning to their normal course the focus of the people who faced the brunt and brute force of the 18 September earthquake, particularly in Chungthang, has turned towards its possible causes and their earlier ire against the 1200 MW Teesta Urja Hydel project being developed at Chungthang.
The focus now isparticularly on their earlier complaints of houses damaged by blasting which were rendered weak and vulnerable to the earthquake.
In this regard the people of Chungthang, particularly those who have suffered house damages, have submitted a petition to the Managing Director, Teesta Urja, demanding compensation for loss of life and property due to damages caused by the earthquake at the Teesta Stage III site at Chungthang.  Their main grouse is that their houses had already been damaged earlier by rampant blasting by the company in the project area. 
The memorandum cites the report of the Mines and Geology department, a couple of years ago, on the causes of house damage in the area. This was on the direction of the government and upon survey it was ascertained in its report that the blasting and other form of activities  in the projects had caused the serious damages to the houses . The report further raised the issue of damage in the event of an earthquake. Subsequent to the report a claim for damage compensation for 170 families was made and also with the Public request for onetime payment of three times the cost of visible damage and also insurance cover for all the houses.
 With maximum casualties taking place in Chungthang and adjoining areas the memorandum also reminds the company that 20 persons had died in the project area prior to the Earth quake and as a result the future of the area was uncertain “…but it proved beyond any doubt the fear and apprehension of the people regarding the negative impact of the project were correct.” The memorandum hits upon the fact that the survey of the Mines and Geology department clearly established that there had been definite damage to public properties by the blasting in the project area and further contends that “…when the earth quake struck ,the already damaged houses could not withstand the impact and most of the houses collapsed, while others were severely damaged. Thereby proving beyond any doubt that the all the project affected areas experienced the most damages as a result of earlier blasting and other activities.”
And while Teesta Urja has announced compensation for the damages and for the lives lost the affected people of Chungthang have expressed that this is ‘paltry’ considering the magnitude and extent of damage and loss of life and property.
Saying that the people   of Chungthang Gram Panchayat Unit and Shipgyer GPU in Lepcha reserve of Dzongu, had sacrificed their most precious ancestral landed properties for the development of Teesta Hydro electric power project stage III it had been assured by the state government as well as the company that the area would prosper and be provided with all kinds of support in times of calamity and disasters. The memorandum submitted also reminds that the people had, at that time, had their  “…own reservation on various issues of demographic and environmental concerns including flooding and earthquake, which were all overlooked at that point of time.” The memorandum also states that the people were yet to recover from the trauma due to loss of lives, properties and Fear Psychosis.
Consequently, the memorandum contends that “… Under the circumstances it would be only fair and natural for the company to help the affected people in such difficult time as part of social corporate responsibility by providing immediate commensurate compensation to the affected families to “Reconstruct their house and Rebuild their lives” and also provide for other infrastructural Development to bring back normalcy in the area.
                  In the event our request is not considered we will have no option but to seek other form of redressal including legal measures.

1 comment:

  1. Hello Editor.....what sort of a headline is this????-Affected Chungthang residents demand compensation from Teesta Urja for loss of life and property to the Earthquake- isn't some thing missing here....was the sub ed sleeping or what?? the rest of India already ignores us and when they such headlines they'd surely think brainless.

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