The Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has said that the surveys of the villages sensitive for disaster should be regularly done and a list of the villages and families needed to be rehabilitated should be prepared without delay. He was addressing a programme organised on the occasion of International Day for Disaster Risk reduction at his residence on Wednesday. He directed the officials to ensure that proper arrangement of electricity, water and other basic facilities are provided to the rehabilitated families. He said that a list of the rehabilitated villages which are needed to be linked with roads should be prepared and handed over to the state administration. The CM directed that the arrangement of funds for fulfilling basic requirements in the rehabilitated villages should be made from convergence of MNREGA and different funds under the control of district magistrate (DM). Dhami also talked with rehabilitated people belonging to eight villages and listened to their grievances. He said that the state government is committed to provide every possible help to the families affected by disaster. He added that a sum of Rs 50,000 is being given under the disaster head to those who died from Covid-19. It is pertinent to mention here that a total of eight villages and 1,447 families have so far been rehabilitated under the rehabilitation policy for disaster affected, 2011 and a sum of Rs 61.02 crore has been spent for this. Interestingly only two villages and 11 families were rehabilitated before 2017 while 1,436 families of 81 villages have been rehabilitated to safer places after the year 2017. In Chamoli district 279 families of 15 villages have been rehabilitated similarly 205 families of five villages in Uttarkashi district, 429 families of 10 villages of Tehri district, 136 families of 10 villages in Rudraprayag district, 321 families of 31 villages in Pithoragarh, 68 families of nine villages in Bageshwar, one family of one village in Nainital district and eight families of two villages in Almora have been rehabilitated so far.

In the meeting the minister for Disaster Management Dhan Singh Rawat, secretary S Murugeshan and others were present. The DMs of all the districts were linked virtually in the meeting.