DEHRADUN, July 6, 2013: Even as relief material poured into Dehradun for the 15th straight day, people in the flood-affected districts of Uttarakhand continued to remain deprived of vital rations. The state government said relief material was being sent to Chamoli, Pithoragarh, Rudraprayag and Bageshwar every day, but disaster hit families alleged the distribution system had failed. 

Bottlenecks exist partly because there is no systematic distribution roster in place even after 18 days. Although relief stuff is being despatched from Dehradun as officials say, large unused stocks are piling up in Joshimath and Rishikesh where a glut builds partly due to government apathy and partly because of poor weather and connectivity. 

"We're despatching about 35 to 40 small relief trucks daily. However, if there are roadblocks in the distribution process, we do not know of it," said Manu Bhardwaj, a volunteer at the Sports College storage camp in Raipur, Dehradun. 

Government officials confirmed they had received over 400 large relief trucks since June 22 when supplies started pouring in from various parts of the country. Additional rations are still coming in from Gujarat, Punjab and Haryana. 

"We were told rations will be distributed to us on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. However, the days passed without any relief," said Arvind Sharma, resident of flood-hit Pandukeshwar village. 

In Mana, the last Indian village along the Indo-Tibetan border, only 40 of the 200 families said they have received their share of relief. A tea-stall owner, Bhawani, said, "Although the administration announced it has completed the distribution of relief material to Mana, we've no such information." 

Also, contrary to its promise of reaching relief to every family, the government is handing over supplies to tehsildars and village sarpanchs, leading to allegations of discrepancy and biased distribution. Expressing satisfaction with the way the government has handled relief though, revenue secretary Bhaskaranand Joshi said, "The government was focusing on getting pilgrims out first. Relief will follow." 

Supplies for flood-hit people include food grains, clothes, ready-to-eat food, used and new clothes and utensils, among other things. Although large quantities of bottled mineral water are also being supplied, volunteers managing relief camps said this is mostly needed in Uttarkashi. 

Describing the government's decision to send in mineral water as shortsighted, joint advisor, operations, at the National Disaster Management Authority, Vinay Kajla, said, "Instead of bottled water, the government should have sent in a water filtration or treatment system. No one seems to have thought what will happen once relief supplies dry up and people are forced to return to the old sources of drinking water. In places like the Kedar valley, the risk of water contamination will be high."

Source: The Times of India, DT. July 6, 2013.