Affected families in Joshimath to get 6-month waiver in power, water bills
Dehradun, Jan 13: The Uttarakhand government on Friday decided to waive for six months electricity and water bills of families and individuals affected in the subsidence-hit Joshimath.
It also decided to conduct a study on the carrying capacity of all towns located in the hills.
The decisions were taken at a meeting of the state cabinet here chaired by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.
The cabinet gave an in-principle approval to the construction of prefabricated houses for short-term rehabilitation of the affected people of Joshimath at identified locations in Koti Farm, Pipalkoti, Gauchar, Gaukh Selang, and Dhak villages after their survey.
It also decided to put on hold repayment of bank loans owed by the affected people for one year.
The cooperative banks will implement the one-year moratorium on repayment of loans immediately, while the state government will request the Centre to ask commercial banks to take a similar measure for the affected people in Joshimath, chief secretary SS Sandhu said at a press conference after the cabinet meeting.
The cabinet decided to increase the amount being given by the state government to the affected families to pay rent from Rs 4,000 per month to Rs 5,000 per month. It also authorised the Chief Minister to increase it further on the recommendation of the District Magistrate.
People in Joshimath have been complaining that Rs 4,000 for rent is too low.
Each affected family staying in temporary relief camps built in hotels and residential units will be paid Rs 950 per room per day for their accommodation besides Rs 450 per head per day for expenses.
Besides, they will get Rs 80 per day to buy feed for big animals and Rs 45 for small ones.
Long and short term relief measures can be taken up out of the state government's own resources till the time a package is allocated by the centre, Sandhu said.
The amount will be adjusted when the package is received from the Centre.
The cabinet also authorised the Chief Minister to take a call on allocating works related to treatment of toe-erosion and subsidence to either the irrigation department or WAPCOS Ltd in Gurugram, Haryana.
It would depend on which of the two submits the DPR first and is ready to carry out the works in EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) mode, Sandhu said.
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BJP's Pravesh Wahi elected MCD mayor
New Delhi (PTI): BJP councillor from Rohini East, Pravesh Wahi, was elected mayor of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Wednesday.
Wahi secured 156 votes, with 14 councillors of the Indraprastha Vikas Party backing him. Congress candidate Hazi Zaraf received nine votes.
BJP councillor from Anand Vihar, Monika Pant, was elected deputy mayor with 156 votes.
Jai Bhagwan Yadav from Begumpur and Manish Chadha from Paharganj were elected to the standing committee from the BJP, while AAP councillor Jalaj Chaudhary from Shalimar Bagh was also elected to the MCD panel.
On being elected mayor, Wahi thanked Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and the BJP leadership, saying, "We will clean Delhi in the coming months. We will work for the development of Delhi."
The electoral college for this year's mayoral election comprised 273 votes, including 249 councillors, 14 MLAs nominated by the Delhi Assembly, seven Lok Sabha MPs and three Rajya Sabha members from Delhi. A candidate required 137 votes to win.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) abstained from the mayoral polls. Earlier, the party's Delhi unit president Saurabh Bharadwaj said in a statement that the move would allow the BJP to take charge of the civic body and help AAP "expose" the ruling party on governance.
"Despite having power at all levels, the BJP has failed to bring about any change in Delhi. The BJP does not know how to perform. Only AAP knows how to work," Bharadwaj said.
Earlier, AAP controlled the mayoral post, with Mahesh Kumar Khinchi winning the election in November 2024 by just three votes.
The three civic bodies -- East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC), North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) and South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) -- were reunified into a single entity on May 22, 2022, as the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.
