396 out of 457 IDP compensation cases verified so far

PT Report

Shishkat, May 30: According to an official of the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) 396 compensation cases of the 457 listed IDP households belonging to Attabad, Ayeenabad, Shishkat, Gulmit, Ghulkin and Hussaini have been verified. 61 cases are still pending for various reasons, including absence of CNIC or discrempency in the data.

According to sources, at least 12-14 cases are very difficiult to be verified because of lack of loss evidence and proper ownership claim documents. A NADRA official, who did not want to be named, said that almost all of the unverifiable cases pertain to residents of Gulmit Village.

It is pertinent to note that [as earlier reported] several undue cases of loss were reportedly registered in connivance with a Revenue Department Official (Patwari) at Gulmit , who allegedly took bribe from the local people to register exaggerated compensation claims during initial days of the landslide and lake disaster.

However, despite of the limbo facing 61 cases, the local people have now started receiving their ATM cards for withdrawal of the compensation money from a UBL branch in Aliabad. Officials of the bank are also accompanying the NADRA team to facilitate the IDPs.

According to officials almost all of the 396 verified IDPs have received their ATM cards.

The IDPs had earlier threatened that if all the listed affectees were not compensated equally they will restart their strike, which had been called off after 5 days of continued blockade of traffic in the dammed Hunza River.

The local people have hoped that the remaining cases will also be resolved on urgent basis and the affected families will be compensated on urgent basis.

“Although the compensation process has been delayed for long but it is better later than never”, an IDP named Qurban, who has been living at his relative’s house for the past 16 months, told this scribe.

“There are still thousands of flood affected people who have not been able to get anything in other provinces”, he reflected, while hoping to soon start construction of his new house.