Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 3 Aug: District Magistrate Ashish Chauhan today heard 109 public grievances during Samadhan Diwas held at the Collectorate auditorium here and directed the officials to ensure prompt, sensitive and effective disposal of all complaints. While most of the grievances were resolved on the spot, the remaining cases were referred to the departments concerned with the instructions to take time-bound action. The complaints largely related to land disputes, encroachments, demarcation, family disputes, loan waiver, compensation, financial assistance and various public services.
One of the most emotional cases that came up before the DM today was that of 75-year-old widow Maya Devi, who sought protection after alleging harassment by her granddaughter. She told the DM that after losing her elder son during the Covid-19 pandemic and her younger son last year, she had been living alone in her ancestral house. She alleged that her granddaughter, who had fallen into bad company and drug addiction, was living in the ancestral house in a live-in relationship with a friend and was mentally and physically harassing her in an attempt to force her out of the property. Seeking protection, a life of dignity and help in bringing her granddaughter back on the right path, she appealed to the administration for intervention. Taking serious note of the matter, Chauhan directed the officer in charge of the Women’s Cell, Dehradun, to initiate immediate action.
Another widow, Bhagwan Dei, complained that despite an equal division of family property between her two sons, her younger son and daughter-in-law were allegedly attempting to encroach upon the share of the elder son and had also threatened them with dire consequences. The DM directed the SDM Sadar and the CO Raipur, to take immediate action in the matter.
Surendra Kumar of Kanwali Road complained that he had been assaulted, abused and threatened by his son and daughter-in-law and sought to disinherit his elder son from all his movable and immovable property. The DM urged the Secretary of the District Legal Services Authority to take action in accordance with the law.
Taking serious note of the lack of Uttarakhand Transport Corporation, Smart City or electric bus services on the Dehradun-Doiwala-Bhaniyawala-Jolly-Thano route, Chauhan summoned the Additional Chief Executive Officer for discussions on the issue.
Six farming families from Luhan village in Kalsi development block complained that they have not received rehabilitation assistance for their agricultural land acquired for the Lakhwar Dam project. The DM directed the Executive Engineer concerned to submit an immediate report.
Sunil Kumar of Premnagar alleged that his house had been completely demolished during the widening of the Doiwala-Premnagar road six years ago but that he had still not received any compensation from the PWD or the National Highways Authority. Chauhan directed the officials concerned to ensure early payment of admissible compensation.
On a complaint by Ramesh Chandra of Ballupur seeking demarcation of his land, Chauhan directed the authorities concerned to take necessary action. He also ordered a high-level inquiry by the Director, Dairy, into allegations of irregularities in the Milk Union functioning from the Aanchal Dairy premises at Adhoiwala.
Baburam of Haripur Dhakrani complained of receiving an excessively high drinking water bill. The Executive Engineer of the Jal Sansthan was directed to investigate the matter and take appropriate action.
On complaints by Shahana Parveen of Central Hope Town regarding alleged encroachment on public land meant for a rainwater drainage channel at Jamanpur in Selaqui and illegal construction of a wall on ceiling land in the Raiwala area, the SDMs concerned were directed to conduct inquiries and remove any encroachments found.
Complaints regarding disruption of drinking water supply in Vani Vihar, Jain Plot, Ramgarh and Bhagat Singh Colony were also taken up, and in these cases, the Executive Engineer was directed to restore water supply without delay.
Widow Vidya Singh of Baniyawala sought waiver of her children’s school fees and employment assistance after the death of her husband had left the family in financial distress. Poonam Bhatnagar of Nehru Colony also appealed for waiver of her daughter’s school fees owing to her poor financial condition. The DM directed the related departments to examine both the cases and take necessary action.
On this occasion, Chauhan instructed all the officers concerned to ensure that every complaint received during Samadhan Diwas was disposed of with seriousness, sensitivity and within the prescribed timeframe. He also directed officials to expedite the disposal of complaints registered on the Chief Minister’s portal.
ADM (Finance & Revenue) KK Mishra, ADM (Administration) Smrita Parmar, SDM Vinod Kumar, Project Director Vikram Singh, District Development Officer (DDO) Sunil Kumar, District Programme Officer Jitendra Kumar and district-level officers from various departments were among those present during the programme.
