Hit by rain disaster, Dheera villagers still await government help for house reconstruction

The rain disaster-affected families of Gardehar village in Dheera subdivision of Kangra district have urged the state government to provide immediate financial assistance for their rehabilitation. They lost their homes in the rain fury of August this year when over 15 houses were damaged due to subsidence. The affected families of two panchayats are in distress as the rehabilitation plan announced by the district administration is yet to be implemented. Now, these families have urged Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu to intervene for their rehabilitation.

Since September 15, Gardehar village has been on the brink. Thirty houses, cowsheds, a local school and government buildings lie shattered. Roads are badly damaged, with cracks as wide as five feet cutting off access. All families now living in rented accommodation or with their relatives are bracing themselves for the coming winter and an uncertain tomorrow.

The affected people have left their houses and Gardehar village is totally abandoned. Disaster-hit Babloo and Naryan Dass were in a state of shock when the SDM and the Deputy commissioner visited their village and told them that their houses would be reconstructed or the government would provide alternative land to them for the purpose. However, till date, no land had been allotted to them for the construction of houses. They say that the government had promised a financial assistance of Rs 7 lakh per family for the construction of houses but till date, only Rs 1.50 lakh had been credited to the bank accounts of eight eligible families. Likewise, only Rs 10,000 assistance each has been provided to the remaining six families till date.

All affected families are worried about their future. As the winter approaches, most of them have left their tented shelters and shifted to rented accommodation. “We urge the Chief Minister to look into the matter and do the needful to rehabilitate us as we belong to poor families,” they add.

“It was a bolt from the blue,” say villagers. “First, we lived in the terror of cloudbursts, flash floods and landslides caused by heavy rainfall, then our homes suddenly developed cracks — the ground itself betrayed us. Now, our houses are on the verge of collapsing. Where do we go? How do we live?,” say over 20 women.

SDM, Dheera, Salem Aajam says that the government has already identified land for the rehabilitation of the flood-affected families. The matter has been reported to the state government for the transfer of land, which is still pending.

An elderly villager, now living with relatives near Thural , sums up their despair: “Only the almighty can save us now. Around 500 kanals are gone, even our perennial spring has vanished. How can we live in terror every day, waiting for the earth to swallow us, mountains that once promised shelter now carry a haunting silence,” he adds.