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The JRDA office in Dhanbad
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The socio-economic survey of families living in underground fire-affected areas of Jharia will pick up pace soon.
Jharia Rehabilitation and Development Authority (JRDA), which is responsible for rehabilitation of non-BCCL employees of the coalfield region in accordance with the Jharia master plan, has started the process of appointing an agency in place of Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research (CIMFR) for conducting the survey.
According to rehabilitation and resettlement in-charge of JRDA Gopal Ji, Ranchi-based Xavier Institute of Social Studies and Dhanbad’s Wiz Mantra have responded to a tender floated by JRDA on December 20. “Technical qualification of both agencies will be examined first after which the financial bid will be opened. A new agency is likely to be appointed by next month after completion of all formalities,” he said.
Gopal Ji added that once the agency was appointed, survey work, which was slo-mo over the past couple of months, would gain momentum.
So far, 35,684 families out of a total of 54,159, settled in 595 fire-affected zones, have been surveyed. Areas that need to be covered are Bastacola, Lodna, Sijua, Katras and Kustore.
“We have distributed photo identity cards to 24,076 families till now. The new agency will have to complete the remaining work within six months. It will have to conduct a survey of demography, unauthorised inhabitants, homestead land, superstructures and other infrastructure on homestead land besides preparing IDs,” said Gopal Ji.
The survey, which aims to ascertain the socio-economic status of affected families so that they can be given suitable compensation, began in 2006 with CIMFR. Later, JRDA roped in ISM in 2009. But CIMFR researchers stopped working last year because of some financial dispute.
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