Cash blow to hill repair - After quake, rain measures suffer

Darjeeling, June 3: Much of the hill infrastructure damaged after last year’s quake is yet to be restored because of paucity of funds and the DGHC fears that their absence before the monsoon will take its toll on the region.

Officials of the hill council said the strengthening of guard walls and the cleaning of jhoras are some of the protection measures that suffered this time because of the shortage of funds.

Most of the guard walls that weakened — some of them were completely destroyed too — after the September 18 quake have not been repaired yet because only Rs 30 crore has been disbursed against the Rs 218 crore estimate of damage submitted by the DGHC to the state government.

The guard walls are often built along the roads or across slopes to protect settlements from mud or slush that runs down the mountainside during the rainy season and may bury houses.

“Of this estimate (Rs 218 crore), the council has so far received only Rs 30 crore which has already been utilised. But we need to do more. The guard walls have to be repaired, at some places they have to be rebuilt too. This time too much damage had been done but too little funds,” said a district official.

The Rs 30 crore had been utilised to repair mainly government buildings that had developed cracks, sources in the administration said. “It was also used to restore the water and irrigation pipes. Schools were also repaired with that amount,” said the source.

He said the district magistrate’s office had also received Rs 21 crore after the quake to repair government buildings. But sources said there were more buildings to be restored and more homes to be rebuilt.

The paucity of funds has forced the board of administrators of the DGHC, who met on May 31, 2012, to refrain from taking up any project. The three MLAs from the hills and DGHC administrator Anil Verma are part of the board.

“No major development projects could be discussed at the meeting as the council hardly has funds. Enough money had not been released for the rehabilitation and repair in the aftermath of September 18 earthquake. If we are unable to strengthen the guard walls and take up other protective measures like cleaning jhoras, the monsoons could spell disaster for the hills,” said the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s Kalimpong MLA, Harka Bahadur Chhetri. Clogged jhoras block water flow down the hills, leading to landslides.

Asked how he expected the cash-strapped state government to disburse money, Chhetri said: “If we are to take up serious development work (in the context of the quake), we need around Rs 1,500 crore for the three hill sub-divisions. We understand that the state is suffering from funds crunch but at the same time some amount has to be released for the hills before monsoon.”

“The chief minister had been saying that she is trying to get a backward district status for Darjeeling. If that happens, flow of funds will probably be much smoother,” he added.

Soon after the earthquake, a Morcha delegation met Mamata Banerjee and demanded a compensation package of Rs 1000 crore. The Morcha had claimed that 7,500 houses were fully damaged especially in the rural areas while over a lakh houses had developed cracks.

A district official said the aid for restoration and repair after a natural calamity usually comes to the state from the Disaster Management Relief Fund (under the Union home ministry).

Asked how much the state received from the Centre’s disaster relief fund, north Bengal development minister Gautam Deb avoided a direct reply. “Our chief minister has visited the hills several times after the earthquake and funds had been sought from the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund. A team of experts from the National Disaster Response Force had also visited the region to make an assessment. Mamata Banerjee is in constant touch with the Prime Minister in this regard.” Deb said.(TT)