Oversight group halfway through work, to finish by June 10

New Delhi, May 29 (UNI) The Sardar Sarovar Project Relief and Rehabilitation Oversight Group (OSG) which began the verification of the relief and rehabilitation (R&R) of the Project Affected Families (PAFs) on May 22, is half-way through its work and expects to complete uts survey by June 10.

The OSG was appointed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last month in response to Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar's agitation in Delhi, seeking the proper rehabilitation of the dam oustees before taking up the construction for increased height of the dam.

The body was also necessitary, consequent to the observation of the Review Committee on the Narmada Control Authority (NCA) meeting held on April 15, under the chairmanship of Water Resources Minister Saif-ud-din Soz that R&R of PAFs was not up to the mark as projected by the Madhya Pradesh government.

Briefing mediapersons here, OSG chairperson V K Shunglu said as many as 50 field verification teams had been constituted for the verification of R&R activities in 177 villages which would partially and fully submerged with the raise of the dam's height to 121.92 metres from earlier 110.64 metres.

''So far, around 90 villages have been surveyed and five per cent validation of the field survey has been carried out. A separate mechanism is being set up for verification of the left out claimants'', OSG member and former JNU Vice Chancellor Prof G.K.

Chadha said.

There are around 18,000 PAFs, as verified by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), and agricultural land acquired by the MP government at 86 sites for rehabilitation of land-owning oustees would also be scrutinised besides checking the veracity of cash component and Special Relief received by about 3,879 families.

The Group would also verify the properties (houses and other business establishments) of the oustees from the affected villages in addition to the complaints received by the Grievances Redressal Authority of the Madhya Pradesh government.

The OSG's survey is mandated only to Madhya Pradesh.

Mr Shunglu said they had been verifying the data supplied by the MP government regarding its R&R activities. But, he made it clear that the Group face no hinderance from the MP government in their field survey which would be a legal instrument for PAFs for receiving the claims.

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