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| Bandipora villagers relieved | | HC issues notice to govt, NHPC | | Early Times Report
Srinagar, Sept 18: The state high court has issued a notice to government and National Hydro Electric Power Corporation Limited, seeking its directions to redraft the policy of resettlement and rehabilitation for the project affected families of the Kishanganga Hydroelectric Power Project Bandipora.
Hearing the petition, a single bench comprising Justice M H Attar directed the government through Chief Secretary and Project Manager Kishenganga Hydro Electric Power Project and Deputy Commissioner Bandipora to file the response within four weeks.
According to the petitioners-nine villagers from Krapora village, the state government in collaboration with the Union of India, in order to explore and utilise the waters of the Kishanganga river for the purposes of the generation of hydro electric power, handed over the execution of the Hydro Electric Power Project to the National Hydro Electric Power Corporation (NHPC).
It started the work in 2009 and tentatively the project would be ready by the year 2016.
For the purpose of hydro-electric power generation, a 37 meters dam is being constructed wherefrom the river water shall be diverted through a 23 KM long tunnel, cutting across a huge mountainous region from Gurez to the underground power house located in the Kralpora village.
"The construction of the entire Kishanganga Hydro Electric Project though being seen and proposed to be beneficial to the extent of generation of electricity, shall unveil a manmade catastrophe in the form of the enhanced chances of frequent flooding of the areas of population around the Wular Lake besides shall pose a great threat to the historical township of Sopore and also expose the entire area to unending ecological disasters," they said.
The project, they said, has the effect of displacements of the people of many villages in the Gurez valley and also a large number of families of Kralpora Village.
"In terms of the reports prepared by the project authorities through different institutions, the project would have more demerits as compared to the merits."
They said that as per the reports got prepared by project authorities, a total of 384 families comprising of the people belonging to Dard-shin schedule tribe of Gurez besides check and Kralpora in Bandipora shall be displaced due to the project either partially or wholly.
They said Ministry of Rural Development(department of land resources) GOI has devised and drafted a National Policy for Rehabilitation and Resettlement for the project affected families and for the entire developmental upliftment of the project areas in the year 2007. The policy envisages minimizing the displacement and promotes the least displacing alternatives. It also ensures an adequate rehabilitation package for the project affected families with an emphasis on special care for the weaker sections of society, especially members of the schedule caste and schedule tribes, he said.
It also ensures to provide a better standard of living by providing sustainable income to the project affected families by integrating the rehabilitation concerns into the development planning and implementation process.
Besides the National Policy of 2007 has also provided the constitution of a multi-disciplinary committee for overseeing the implementation of the environmental safeguards and it is also provided in the National Policy of 2007 that there shall be a monitoring committee including a women representative from the Project Affected Families for monitoring the implementation of the rehabilitation and resettlement plan.
"In the instant case the respondents have no where made any mention of the constitution of such committees as none of the such committees was ever constituted and till date no report with respect to the implementation of the rehabilitation and resettlement policy has been prepared," they said and demanded that policy of rehabilitation and resettlement prepared by the respondents is an eyewash and is liable to be quashed. |
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