Jharkhand government begins compensation process for victims of Chamoli glacier burst

By Rizwan Arif
Ranchi (Jharkhand) [India], March 2 : The Jharkhand government has started the compensation process for the state's victims in the avalanche triggered by the bursting of a glacier in Uttrakhand's Chamoli last month.
The families of the deceased will be given a sum of Rs 1 lakh under the Jharkhand Interstate Migrant Labourers Survey and Rehabilitation scheme, the state Labour Commissioner informed on Tuesday.
Labour Commissioner of Jharkhand A Muthukumar said, "We are giving compensation to fourteen families. The labour department has transferred the compensation amount to the Labour Superintendents of concerned districts. It will be given to aggrieved families in two or three days."
The compensation scheme has various provisions fixing a certain amount for the injured and the dead labourers. "Their families would have received Rs 1.5 lakh each if they were registered, but they weren't. Hence, according to the scheme, they will be getting Rs 1 lakh each," the labour commissioner further added.
Fourteen Jharkhand residents went missing after the glacier burst in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district. Four bodies were identified after a few days. However, ten are still missing. The Uttarakhand administration has now declared the missing persons as dead.
Among the recovered bodies three labourers hailed from Lohardaga and one from Bokaro district of Jharkhand.
Meanwhile, the death toll in the incident has reached 72 as two more bodies and 30 parts of human bodies were recovered from the debris, according to the state government on Saturday.
A glacier burst in the Tapovan-Reni area of Chamoli District of Uttarakhand triggered massive flooding in the Dhauliganga and Alaknanda rivers that damaged houses and the nearby Rishiganga power project.