CHAPTER- 3: FACTORS WHICH AGGRAVATED THE DISASTER OF JUNE 2013
13 | Page PERFORMANCE AUDIT OF
Natural Disaster in Uttarakhand, June 2013 Response, Relief Restoration of the Damaged Infrastructure of Immediate Nature
If the constructions in the proximity of streams and rivers were regulated and the recommendations of DMMC 2012, emphasising the need for banning construction especially in the proximity of
rivers and streams in line with the provisions of the Uttarakhand Flood Plain Zoning Act, 2012 had been adopted by the Government, the impact of the disaster would have been far less.
3.2 Enforcement of town planning and building by-laws
The National Policy on Disaster Management NPDM stipulates that for prevention of disasters, it is essential to formulate municipal regulations and suitable regulations for rural areas containing
development control regulations, building by-laws and structural safety measures, along with ensuring their enforcement by the Government departments, institutions and people at large, so as
to avoid an unacceptable, uncontrollable situation in a disaster prone area.
Audit scrutiny showed that the prescribed authorities for regulated areas limited to speciic places in the test-checked districts had been authorised to look into the town planning and building
by-laws aspect. However, these authorities were almost non-functional as adequate technical man power was not available with them. The inadequacy of man power had given rise to unplanned
habitations not covered under building by-laws within the regulated areas and the authorities were not in a position to stop this menace, as was pointed out by these authorities to the audit.
In the test-checked districts, audit found that 175 houses or commercial establishments built on Government land were damaged. The owners of these houses and commercial establishments were
not prevented from constructing their premises on Government land again. Further, in a particular case in Tehsil Tharali of district Chamoli, it was noticed that Government had provided ` 7.50 lakh
as ex-gratia relief to the owners of shops whose establishments were built upon the Government land and had got damaged in the June 2013 disaster. These shop owners were once again found building
their shops at the same site. This simply calls into question, the process of verifying the antecedents of affected people while paying out relief and compensation. The credibility of the institutions
responsible for enforcing planning and land use by-laws was also adversely affected.
3.3 Conclusion
