After Malin, Govt decides to crackdown on encroachers
7 Aug 2014 4:35 AM IST
In the wake of Malin landslide disaster in Pune killing hundreds of people recently, the union home and the ministry of environment, forests and climate change have decided for a massive crackdown on illegal encroachers and residents living at hazardous as well as non-hazardous zones across the country.
In a joint directive issued by both the ministry it has been decided to form a panel consist of environmentalists, town planners and officials of the Geographical Survey of India (GSI) to initiate a scientific probe on recent ‘man made’ disasters and were asked to submit a report within a month on what measures should be taken immediately to prevent such casualties.
What came as a surprise for both ministries that Malin village, where the landslide happened few days ago, does not fall under the hazardous zone. ‘But despite that the natural calamity happened.
We need to probe it scientifically and should come out with some answers to avoid such difficulties in future,’ a MHA sources said. It was learnt that home minister Rajnath Singh has already assured required assistance to the panel to conduct their studies and to rehabilitate people living in those areas where possibility natural disasters are high.
‘We cannot sit ideal but to take corrective measures. We need to concentrate more on the Western Ghat where the Malin incident happened despite it does not fall under hazardous zones,’ Singh was reportedly told the officials of GSI in a recently held meeting.
Sources said, the team will soon conduct a study mainly at earthquake and flood prone area. There will be separate teams, which will conduct study at some places Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya and Manipur — considered as earthquake prone area and flood prone areas of Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and in Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
Once they will submit their report on dos and don’ts the government is all set to take serious action against illegal constructions, eateries and encroachments in these areas. All the respective state governments will soon be intimidated about the measures taken by the union ministries and will be asked to provide all kind of local help to the team members.
Earlier, in June 2013, a cloudburst caused devastating floods and landslides at Kedarnath and Badrinath According to figures provided by the Uttarakhand government, more than 5,700 people were dead, which include 934 local residents.
In a joint directive issued by both the ministry it has been decided to form a panel consist of environmentalists, town planners and officials of the Geographical Survey of India (GSI) to initiate a scientific probe on recent ‘man made’ disasters and were asked to submit a report within a month on what measures should be taken immediately to prevent such casualties.
What came as a surprise for both ministries that Malin village, where the landslide happened few days ago, does not fall under the hazardous zone. ‘But despite that the natural calamity happened.
We need to probe it scientifically and should come out with some answers to avoid such difficulties in future,’ a MHA sources said. It was learnt that home minister Rajnath Singh has already assured required assistance to the panel to conduct their studies and to rehabilitate people living in those areas where possibility natural disasters are high.
‘We cannot sit ideal but to take corrective measures. We need to concentrate more on the Western Ghat where the Malin incident happened despite it does not fall under hazardous zones,’ Singh was reportedly told the officials of GSI in a recently held meeting.
Sources said, the team will soon conduct a study mainly at earthquake and flood prone area. There will be separate teams, which will conduct study at some places Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya and Manipur — considered as earthquake prone area and flood prone areas of Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and in Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
Once they will submit their report on dos and don’ts the government is all set to take serious action against illegal constructions, eateries and encroachments in these areas. All the respective state governments will soon be intimidated about the measures taken by the union ministries and will be asked to provide all kind of local help to the team members.
Earlier, in June 2013, a cloudburst caused devastating floods and landslides at Kedarnath and Badrinath According to figures provided by the Uttarakhand government, more than 5,700 people were dead, which include 934 local residents.
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