Rs 5.61-crore relief for owner of collapsed Bhattakuffer house

The district administration has attributed hill cutting for the construction of a four-lane highway as the reason for the collapse of a building at Bhattakuffer, near here, and directed the company handling the project to pay a compensation of Rs 5.61 crore to the affected family.

Deputy Commissioner Anupam Kashyap today directed that the road construction company working on the project under the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to pay a compensation of Rs 561,92,048 to the owners of the collapsed building. “The compensation should be paid to the affected family without delay,” he added.

On June 30, a multi-storey building owned by Shreya, Shaurya and Ranjana in Mathu Colony of Bhattakuffer had collapsed following a landslide. An inquiry committee under the chairmanship of Additional DM (Law and Order) Pankaj Sharma was constituted on July 4 to ascertain the reasons for the house collapse. This is the same site where NHAI officials were manhandled by residents in the presence of Panchayati Raj Minister Anirudh Singh, who was also named in an FIR registered in the case.

The committee estimated the cost of the building at Rs 2,80,96,024, the price of the land at Rs 57,40,100 and the net value of the structure at Rs 1,65,17,336. Along with this, the cost of other things was estimated at Rs 58,38,588.

According to the committee’s report, the Bhattakuffer area has been damaged due to hill cutting for the widening of the highway to four lanes, resulting in financial loss and distress to the owners of the building.

The Deputy Commissioner said that the affected family had suffered a huge loss, so it was necessary that the compensation be paid to it soon. Also, the payment should be made along with an appropriate compensation paid during the acquisition process, as per the provisions of Section 30 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.