Houses washed away, villagers seek shelter

Sanjay Bumbroo

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, September 25

Residents of Rampur Seada village near Surajpur in the district today blocked the road in protest against the failure of the government to provide shelter to about 20 families in the village whose houses were either washed away or damaged late last night.

The protest led to a traffic jam on the national highway after which officials, including the Kalka Tehsildar, arrived at the spot and managed to get the dharna lifted after assuring the protesters that they would look into the matter. The residents alleged that the authorities had failed to provide them shelter as a result of which they were forced to sleep in the open.

Among those whose houses were washed away were Yashoda, Mishri, Vimlesh, Nirmal, Jitender, Lukman, Khemraj, Nathu, Somraj and Virender.

The gates of the Kaushalya dam were opened after the water level rose to the danger level last night, causing damage to the houses located in the illegal colony. There are more than 100 houses in the locality set up by migrant labourers on the banks of the Kaushalya.

Cracks started appearing in the houses all of a sudden, giving residents no time to save their household goods as they had to rush out to save their lives. Residents of adjoining houses were, however, able to take out their household goods.

Vijay Bansal, vice-president of the farmers’ wing of the Congress, urged the government to provide compensation to the affected people under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, and the Labour Welfare Fund, besides making alternative arrangements for their stay.

Seema Devi, local councillor (Ward No. 6), said the government as well as the real estate developer concerned had failed to construct a bundh on the banks of the river. She said had the authorities constructed the bundh from the Surajpur bridge to Amravati Enclave, the houses would not have been damaged. She said the crack on the national highway had also appeared due to the lackadaisical approach of the authorities.

Deputy Commissioner Mukul Kumar said he had sought a report from the Kalka SDM in this regard and compensation would be granted as per government rules. He said he had already asked officials to shift the affected people to safer places such as a school or religious places.

He said officials of the Irrigation Department as well as the Public Works Department had been directed to take necessary steps to ensure that no further damage was caused to the remaining houses. He said he had also directed the community kitchen organisers at the Mansa Devi temple to arrange food for the affected families in the area. 

Meanwhile, traffic on National Highway No. 73 moved at a snail’s pace from the toll plaza to the Surajpur bridge today as the firm responsible for the maintenance of the road was yet to repair the damaged part of the road. The police had a tough time controlling the traffic due to a large number of vehicles crossing the area.