The recent floods and landslides have left the hill state of Uttarakhand devastated. Now the mammoth task of rebuilding infrastructure and lives is fraught with challenges. CNN-IBN's special correspondent Priyali Sur joined IBNLive readers for an interaction on the issue.
Q. Ma'am, there are 13 districts in Uttarakhand, I am sure entire Uttarakhand has not been devastated. Even if it was so, it can be rebuild over a period of two years. The number of ministers must be definitely more than 13, give one district to one minister for monitoring.ensure, the minister does not get his constituency, then you have the government machinery of centre and state, involve 5 NGO's per district or 10 per district each in different areas of Health, education, etc and allocate approx. Rs. 500 Crore to each district or ask this group to submit a rehab plan and monitor it under the aegis of Panel of High Court Judges. Brand new Uttarakhand is ready, what we need is will, ideas are a plenty. Asked by: S ESHWAR
A. True...along with the government and NGOs, private companies should also look at adopting villages that have been completely destroyed.
Q. Do you expect the Char Dham Yatra to go ahead as usual next year? Asked by: sundar1950in
A. A lot of infrastructure needs to be rebuild...so it might take time before it's all back to normal but alternative walking routes are already being looked at. The Nehru Institute of Mountaineering has come up with a 34-km long walking route to Kedarnath already.
Q. Rebuilding needs supports of the states residents, some of whom have suffered heavily. The financial, physical and mental support needed by them is huge. What efforts have started on the ground now? It is already 30 days over from the day of Himalayan Tsunami. Asked by: sundar1950in
A. Very true Sundar...for people who have suffered there needs to be an over all support system that needs to be provided. While the process of giving compensation to the victim's family will begin by the government very soon, what also needs to be looked at is providing help to the many locals affected and assist them in rebuilding their lives and livelihood...I'm afraid not much is being done as yet.
Q. Will the opportunity be used successfully in giving employment to locals and also rebuild better infrastructure to ensure improvements for tourism industry, a mainstay for economy of Uttarakhand? Asked by: sundar1950in
A. Yes, since there has been so much devastation, life for the locals has become very tough. There have been a few steps and initiatives announced by the central and state govt such as providing 150 days of employment instead of 100 under the MGNREGA scheme to people from the flood-affected villages also doubling allocation of housing units under the Indira Awas Yojna in Uttarakhand...but we will have to wait and watch whether this is really implemented on ground and can provide relief to the locals.
Q. Priyali, is the Government approaching World Bank or any such institutions for the massive funds required for the rebuilding? Asked by: sundar1950in
A. Well lots of humanitarian and non-governmental organisations have come forward on their own and are helping out with relief operations in Uttarakhand.
Comments
0 comment