138 Teesta flood victim families in Kalimpong need rehabilitation, says Evaluation Committee

YOWAN MOTHAY, EOI, KALIMPONG, FEBRUARY 18, 2024 : It was decided at a meeting of the Teesta Disaster Compensation Evaluation Committee on Sunday that a total of 138 families which were victims of the flash flood in Teesta on October 4 last should be rehabilitated, among them 101 families from Kalimpong Block 1 and 37 from Lava Block. 

Members of the Tista Gram Panchayat, and Gorkhaland Territorial Administration Sabhasads Sinora Namchu, Norden Sherpa, Bishal Rai, Santosh Pradhan and members of the victim families were present in the meeting. 

Norden Sherpa who is leading the rehabilitation work after the Teesta disaster said according to the policies and rules of the West Bengal Government the victim families had received compensation of Rs 75,000 each. But GTA Chief Anit Thapa wanted to do something more or the victims, saying the amount disbursed was “nothing” compared to the need. 

Thapa subsequently decided to build houses for the victims on government land for their rehabilitation. 

Accordingly, the work for marking of the lahd had now been completed. The land should now be handed over to the GTA by the State Government. 

When the land would be handed over, the construction of the houses would begin. For those families who had their own land or someone had donated land for them, the construction of the houses had already begun.