Rs 150 cr more on the anvil for Renuka Dam oustees

Nahan, June 20

A meeting was chaired Deputy Speaker of the Himachal Vidhan Sabha and local MLA Vinay Kumar at the Renuka Dam Project Office today. The session focused on the concerns of the families displaced by the project. Key officials from the project and representatives from the Displaced Struggle Committee participated in the discussions.

During the meeting, Vinay Kumar urged project officials to expedite the resolution of the issues faced by the displaced families. He emphasised the government’s commitment to ensuring that the interests of all families were addressed and that they receive all facilities.

The Deputy Speaker announced that issues concerning homeless, landless individuals and cultivators will be discussed in the upcoming meeting of the board of directors. He appreciated the harmonious nature of the meeting and expressed confidence that future issues, concerning the displaced, will be resolved collaboratively.

Vijay Kumar, the chairman of the Displaced Struggle Committee, raised various concerns related to the displaced families. Rajendra Kumar Chaudhary, the General Manager, highlighted that the project holds a national significance. Upon completion, it will supply 23,000 l of water per second to Delhi throughout the year and generate 40 MW of electricity. The project involves six states — Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, and Haryana.

Chaudhary informed that the Deputy Commissioner of Sirmaur has notified 1,362 families as major project-affected families and 95 as homeless. Remaining families are being categorised and will be verified by the Corporate Office in Shimla. The list of 130 landless families had also been sent for necessary verification.

Chaudhary reported that Rs 246 crore have been deposited in the court for increased land value for the 2023-2024 year, with another Rs 150 crore to be deposited within 15 days. He added that land exploration work is nearly complete and the diversion tunnel work might commence this year. The secondary phase formalities for forest clearance are also complete, with approval expected soon.

Deputy General Manager Sanjeev Kumar, Senior Managers Neeraj Singhal, Pradeep Mehra, Sunil Gupta and Kapil Dutt, Associate Manager Rakesh Saini, Divisional Secretary Mitra Singh Tomar and representatives from the Displaced Struggle Committee were present in the meeting.