Where has the quake relief money gone? In buying Sumos and TVs

Tangdhar, June 26 (UNI) As survivors of last year's October 8 earthquake are slowly piecing together their lives, a startling revelation about ''misuse'' of the relief amount by some of them in the Tangdhar area of Jammu and Kashmir has come to the fore.

A senior civil administration official, on the condition of anonymity, told UNI here that many of the quake survivors have ''misused'' and diverted the relief amount towards buying commercial vehicles and other luxurious household goods.

He said the state government has so far paid Rs 40,000 as first instalment of the promised Rs one lakh quake relief amount to each affected family in Karnah tehsil of the frontier Kupwara district.

The official said the state government has also paid Rs 30,000 to each family for construction of temporary sheds.

It had also announced an incentive of Rs 5000 to survivors for completing their sheds before December last year and this amount was almost paid to nearly every family, he added.

However, the official said many of the survivors diverted the total relief money towards buying Tata Sumos, Scorpios and Boleros to ply them as taxis besides trucks, tippers and pick-up vans.

Some have bought colour television sets and Direct-To-Home (DTH) Dish Antennas, he added.

The official said before the October 8 devastating earthquake, only 80 Tata Sumos were registered with the local transport union.

''And after the quake, the number of such vehicles has gone up to 211. Similarly, there were 40 trucks before the temblor and the number has now gone up to 300,'' he claimed.

The official said the survivors paid their relief amount as the margin money for buying such vehicles and the rest was taken as loan from banks and other financial institutions.

''The survivors should have focused their entire attention on building damaged houses and temporary shelters instead of purchasing commercial vehicles, colour television sets and DTH antennas.'' The official said many survivors were living in damaged houses which have been declared ''unsafe and dangerous'' so as to ''misuse'' the relief amount for other purposes.

Tangdhar Tata Sumo Association Chairman Abdul Majid Mir also admitted that there were only 80 such commercial vehicles in the area registered with his union before the October 8 quake.

''But, now the number has gone up to 180. Many bought these vehicles from the relief money,'' he added.

These taxis were plying on the Tangdhar-Srinagar, Tangdhar-Jammu and Tangdhar-Kupwara routes, Mir said.

Similarly, Tangdhar Truck Union Association Chairman Mohammad Ismail Khan said there were 60 registered trucks and tippers in the area before the quake and the number has now gone up to 110.

The official said the state government needs to put an effective monitoring mechanism in place to prevent ''misuse and diversion'' of the quake relief money.

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