A protest was held under the joint banners of CPI(ML) and Kisan Mahasabha on 16 June at Lalkuan town in Nainital district. Addressing the protest meeting, CPI(ML) Nainital district Secretary Com. Kailash Pandey said that even after 2 years of the disaster while there had still been no arrangements for rehabilitation of the victims, many scams related to disaster relief had coming to light. Kisan Mahasabha State councilor Com. Bahadur Singh Jangi said that whenever any scam is exposed in Uttarakhand, the Congress and BJP start indulging in blame games. 122 scams have taken place in Uttarakhand from 2000 till date but no FIR has been registered against even a single culprit. Even today lakhs of people living in the hills of Uttarakhand are living in fear of disaster. Not a single family has been rehabilitated. The meeting, conducted by Com. Rajendra Shah, was also addressed by Comrades Bhuwan Joshi, Laxman Suyal, Basanti Bisht, Gopal Gadiya, Lalit Matiyali, Vimla Rauthan, Pushkar Singh Panda and others.
It was demanded through the meeting that the disaster relief scams be probed by the CBI, all affected villages be rehabilitated, all farmers be compensated for crop loss due to unseasonal rains, and embankments be constructed on the river Gola to prevent disasters in Bindukhatta and nearby regions.
In Srinagar, AIPF observed Protest Day by burning the effigy of the State government. Addressing the meeting at Gola Park, CPI(ML) State committee member Com. Indresh Maikhuri said that the disaster relief scams have exposed the ugly face of the State government and bureaucracy. He said that a case should be lodged against the then CM Vijay Bahuguna, there should be a CBI enquiry and the scamsters should be put behind bars. In Joshimath also the effigy of the state government was burnt. A CBI enquiry into the scams was also demanded.
