Rehabilitate families affected by Chamera project, NHPC told

Deputy Commissioner Mukesh Repaswal today directed National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) officials to speed up the process of providing employment to people affected by its Chamera Stage-III hydroelectric project. He instructed them to obtain a complete list of eligible individuals for vacant worker-category posts from the gram panchayat pradhans concerned so that all eligible families receive fair employment opportunities.

Repaswal chaired a meeting of the monitoring committee to review rehabilitation and relief issues concerning the families affected by the Chamera Stage-III hydroelectric project. The meeting focused on expediting employment, resettlement, environmental management and waste disposal in the project areas.

He also asked the NHPC to share detailed information regarding vacant posts and the eligibility criteria with the district administration before filling them. He directed the officials to submit a list of contractual workers due to retire in the next 12 months.

Repaswal expressed serious concern over the landslide-affected Muchka village and instructed the SDO (Civil), Chamba, to identify an alternative site for the safe resettlement of the affected families. He also told the NHPC to ensure that persons with disabilities, widows and other vulnerable dependents among the project-affected families were provided with a monthly pension of Rs 1,000.

He emphasised the need for scientific waste management in the project area and instructed the NHPC to set up small solid waste disposal units. He said that solid waste collected from nearby panchayats should be processed scientifically to improve sanitation and reduce environmental pollution.

He also asked the NHPC and the Health Department to ensure that doctors were made available as required at the Community Health Centre, Holi, or the Primary Health Centre, Garola, so that local residents did not face a shortage of health services.

The project managers of Chamera Stage-III, Kuthed Hydropower Project, and Holi-Bajoli Project presented detailed reports on environmental management, covering catchment area treatment, compensatory afforestation, green belt development, environmental monitoring, biodiversity conservation, fishery management, quarry site restoration, disaster management, dumping site maintenance and solid waste management.