Andhra Pradesh - Gulbarga   

Dalits of Havinahal village have been denied fair compensation Three weeks after…

All that remains: Ratnavva Yellappa Harijan outside her collapsed house in Havinahal village in Surpur taluk in Gulbarga district.

HAVINAHAL (GULBARGA DIST.): Ratnavva Yellappa Harijan braves the scorching sun as she waits for the officials to turn up to deliver the compensation amount for her collapsed house.

“This is the daily ritual of this 70-year-old partially blind mother of three children. But help from the government appears to be a distant dream,” says village elder Sangram Harijan of Havinahal village. This village in Surpur taluk was cut off for four days in early October by flood waters of the Devapura Stream and Naduvinahalla stream, tributaries of river Krishna. The residents had to be rescued by motor boats.

Three weeks after the calamity, the village still presents a picture of devastation. Yet officialdom dilly-dallies over the payment of compensation to those who lost their houses. Temporary sheds have not been constructed in any of thevillages which are to be shifted to safe areas.

An immediate compensation of Rs. 1,000 was given by the government to the affected along with the supply of a package consisting of foodgrains and edible oil. Non-governmental organisations and Christian groups also distributed food. But rehabilitation has not begun. The faulty classification of houses under “fully collapsed” or “partially collapsed” in Havinal village is likely to deprive the affected population of their due. While the norms of the Calamity Relief Fund (CRF) are very clear that all the houses constructed using stones should be considered as “pucca” houses, officials in the Revenue Department in Surpur have in their survey report said that not even a single “pucca” house suffered damage in the floods. Only four “kuchcha” houses collapsed, they claim. In addition, 25 “kuchcha” houses had suffered serious damage and another 25 “kuchcha” houses had suffered partial damage. Thus neither Ratnavva nor Gopal Gujjaliar, another Dalit whose “pucca” house was constructed of stones, will get the Rs. 35,000 compensation promised by the government, although their houses were washed away in the floods. They must settle for Rs. 10,000 or even less, as their houses have been classified as “kuchcha”.

Even this is sought to be denied the affected by some officials as inquiries in the Tahsildar office in Surpur revealed. An official in the Tahsildar’s office told The Hindu that even for the houses which had suffered full damage and classified as “pucca”, the officials have decided to pay Rs. 10,000 as compensation to a single room house and Rs. 35,000 for two or more roomed houses.

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