Access to drinking water, poor sanitation and waste management systems, inadequate health services and education infrastructure, limited support for agriculture and livelihood opportunities are among at least two dozen weaknesses identified by a joint committee that visited five tehsils of Jaisalmer district in Rajasthan. Where the remaining 6,736 people displaced by Pong Dam have been proposed to provide land for their resettlement. In step 2.
The five tehsils are Ramgarh, Jaisalmer, Mohangarh-1, Mohangarh-2 and Nachna. In these five tehsils, 77 chaks (revenue muhls or tracts of land located mostly in rural areas, of which the Marbabas have been given to Pong Dam Bhiskars) have been identified for rehabilitation. (There is one murabba in 25 bighas.) 16 chaks have been identified in Ramgarh, 15 in Jaisalmer, 20 in Mohangarh-1, 4 in Mohangarh-2 and 22 chaks in Nachna tehsil.
According to the study titled “Joint Inspection Report on Availability of Basic Facilities in Chawks of Pong Dam Ostis, Rajasthan”, one primary school is located between 7 km and 25 km from 16 chawks identified in Ramgarh Tehsil to rehabilitate around 440 displaced families. Similarly, the distance of higher secondary schools from these chawks is about 14 km to 25 km. Further, the distance from these chalks to water diggis (artificial ponds made by the land owner in maraba to store water) is between 7 km and 25 km.
Similarly, 15 chawks have been identified to rehabilitate 799 displaced families in Jaisalmer Tehsil. The nearest water diggi from these chalks is 3 km and the farthest is 8 km. The nearest primary school is 2 km and the farthest is 20 km. The nearest higher secondary school is 23 km and the farthest is 31 km from these chawks. Besides, a government hospital is located between 23 and 43 km from these chawks.
The joint committee has identified four chalks for rehabilitation in Mohangarh-2 tehsil only, a primary school, a hospital, a paved road and a water diggi at a distance of 500 meters to 1 km. The report also highlighted lack of road network and transport, lack of cluster approach in land allocation, limited access to markets, illegal occupation of land by mafia and possibility of encroachment by illegal occupiers.
The committee, headed by Himachal Pradesh Deputy Commissioner (Relief and Rehabilitation), Dr Sanjay Kumar Dhiman, had two members – Jwali Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Bachiter Singh and Revenue Officer Karm Chand Kalia – who visited five tehsils between October 25 and 27. A team of Rajasthan government officials assisted them. Dhiman on Wednesday submitted the report to Himachal Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi, who will take the report to the central government in Delhi next month.
Bachitar Singh told Indian Express, “The land identified in 77 chakmas under five tehsils is in the rural areas of Jaisalmer district. We have highlighted what we saw there in our report. The Rajasthan Government team helped us wherever we went. The purpose of our visit was to examine the basic facilities in these areas that we found. There is a need for improvement. The identified areas are located near the Indira Gandhi Canal Project. There is a need to construct a connecting canal to the identified areas from the main canal. In the report, we made some recommendations, if followed, the identified land would be suitable for rehabilitation.”
The committee recommended drip irrigation, rain water harvesting, community managed water storage system, provision of micro credit and rotational land allocation and regular review meetings between Himachal Pradesh (donor state) and Rajasthan (beneficiary state).
When contacted, Himachal Revenue Minister Negi said, “The report was pending. The identified land was required to be inspected before the displaced families were relocated there. I will submit this report to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Central Government. This is an interstate matter that requires a thorough discussion involving all stakeholders. The report highlights some of the shortcomings, with some recommendations to be implemented. Education, transportation, health, electricity and other basic facilities are also necessary.
Negi said, “20,722 families were displaced during the acquisition of about 75,268 acres of land for construction of Pong Dam in Himachal Pradesh in 1966-67. The remaining 6,736 eligible families are yet to be rehabilitated. In Phase 1, more than 12,000 displaced families were resettled in several areas of Sriganganagar and Hanumangarh in Rajasthan.