The way to rehabilitation
The government of India divided people into fully affected and partially affected categories. They were allotted new land according to this status. Families with over 50% of their land affected came under fully affected. All 5291 families living in Tehri were fully affected and relocated to a new town known as 'New Tehri'. The 5429 families were fully affected, and 3810 families were partially affected by the Tehri Dam Project.The rules for rehabilitation
The government worked on the rehabilitation of the town's people based on specific guidelines:- The government should relocate the households in blocks so they can remake their social life.
- The affected families will get a choice for their selection of rehabilitation.
- As much as possible, the government should consider the preference of affected families in finding them new land.
- Community facilities should be provided at all-new locations, even if these facilities weren't available in the previous villages.
- The state should compensate all affected families for property loss, agricultural land, and any financial loss.
Improvements to this rehabilitation plan
- Due to the locals asking for better compensation, a committee got formed in 1996 known as the Hanumantha Rao Committee (HRC).
- According to this committee, the state incorporated extra benefits into the rehabilitation policy.
- A payment of Rs. 33,000, house construction assistance, allotment of shops to previous shop owners and the recognition of the people living upstream of Tehri giving them right over the water.
- House construction assistance of over 2-5 lakhs was provided to fully affected families.
Issues raised with the dam
- Renowned Uttarakhand environmentalist Sunderlal Bahuguna lead the protests against the creation of the Tehri dam. It was anti-human rights to displace such a large population with no proper plan and make thousands of families homeless.
- Along with the human rights violation, environmentalists had a growing concern with the dam's stability and the fragile ecosystem of the Himalayan region.
- The dam is located over a geological fault which could cause earthquakes of very high magnitudes. Although the dam is said to withstand earthquakes as high as 8.4 magnitudes, an earthquake of 8.5 magnitudes or more isn't out of the question.
- The breakage of the dam will lead to the submergence of many towns such as Haridwar and Rishikesh. Over a million people could lose their lives if such a catastrophic event occurred.
