Assistance for Completely Damaged/Destroyed Houses, Uttarakhand

What is the housing damage assistance scheme in Uttarakhand?

Assistance for Completely Damaged/Destroyed Houses is a relief measure paid from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) by the Department of Disaster Management and Rehabilitation, Government of Uttarakhand, through the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority (USDMA) and the district administration. It gives a family financial assistance when their residential house is destroyed or partly damaged by a notified natural disaster.

Uttarakhand's hills see frequent cloudbursts, flash floods and landslides that wash away or crack homes. The SDRF, constituted under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, is the primary state fund for immediate relief, and this housing item is one of its standing, rule-based components. The Hindi term for the house component of this relief is often written as "bhavan" assistance.

How much assistance is paid?

The SDRF norms Uttarakhand follows set the housing amounts as:

• Fully destroyed house (pucca or kutcha): Rs 1,30,000 per house in hilly areas (including districts under the Integrated Action Plan) and Rs 1,20,000 per house in the plains.
• Partly damaged pucca house with at least 15% damage: Rs 6,500.
• Partly damaged kutcha house with at least 15% damage: Rs 4,000.
• Damaged/destroyed cattle shed attached to the house: Rs 3,000.

The higher hilly-area rate recognises the extra cost of building in the mountains. The exact amount for your case depends on the damage-assessment survey done by the revenue and disaster staff.

Who is eligible for the housing relief?

You can claim if:

• Your residential house was destroyed or partly damaged by a notified natural disaster; flood, cloudburst, landslide, avalanche, earthquake, hailstorm, cyclone, fire, frost or cold wave.
• The house is an authorised construction verified by the competent authority of the state government.
• The damage is certified by the district damage-assessment survey.

You are not eligible and cannot claim if:

• The house is an unauthorised or encroachment structure, the scheme requires the construction to be verified as authorised by the competent state authority.
• The damage was not caused by a notified disaster; ordinary wear, poor maintenance or an accident outside a declared calamity is not covered.
• The structure is not a residential house (purely commercial premises fall under different rules), though an attached cattle shed has its own Rs 3,000 provision.
• There is no damage-assessment survey on record, so the extent of loss and the hilly-or-plain rate cannot be fixed.

One family, one house is the guiding principle: the relief is per damaged residential house, and the amount is set by the survey rather than by the number of people living in it.

What documents are required?

• Damage assessment report. The survey certifying the house is fully destroyed or partly damaged and by how much.
• Proof of house ownership and that the construction is authorised.
• Proof the damage was due to the disaster, district administration record.
• Aadhaar card, for identity and bank seeding.
• Bank passbook, relief is credited directly.

How to apply for the assistance

1. Report the damage to your Tehsil office or District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) immediately after the disaster.
2. Allow the damage survey — revenue and disaster management staff visit and assess whether the house is fully destroyed or partly damaged, and record the extent and whether it is in a hilly or plain area.
3. Submit your claim with ownership proof, the survey report, Aadhaar and bank passbook.
4. Relief is disbursed to your bank account from the SDRF once the district administration approves the assessment.

Report promptly: SDRF relief is meant to be immediate, and delayed reporting can make it harder to verify that the disaster caused the damage.

Why claims get delayed or rejected

• No damage-assessment survey on record, the survey is what fixes the amount.
• House not verified as authorised construction, a hard requirement.
• Damage not linked to a notified disaster.
• Ownership not established, or bank/Aadhaar details incomplete.

What other SDRF help may go with this

Housing relief is only one line in the State Disaster Response Fund's standing list of items, and an affected family usually qualifies for more than the house amount alone. The SDRF norms the Government of India issued on 10 October 2022, which Uttarakhand follows, also provide:

• Ex-gratia for death: Rs 4,00,000 to the next of kin of each person killed in a notified disaster, subject to the cause of death being certified by the competent authority.
• Gratuitous relief, a subsistence allowance for families whose livelihood is seriously affected, paid for the days notified for the calamity.
• Clothing and household goods (utensils) for families whose homes are washed away or fully damaged.
• Ex-gratia for injury, at a higher rate for grievous injury and a lower rate for injury needing hospitalisation of a week or more.
• Assistance for the loss of milch and draught animals, at the per-animal rates in the SDRF list, subject to the ceiling on the number of animals.

Where eligible, families can also seek permanent-housing support under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. After major disasters the state sometimes announces additional discretionary assistance over and above the SDRF norms. Because the exact per-item figures are revised periodically and vary with the calamity, ask the district administration for the operative order and the full package that applies to your case rather than assuming a single amount.

How to check the status of your claim

The claim runs through the district administration, so follow-up is local. Keep a copy of your application and any acknowledgement, and check with the Tehsil office or the District Disaster Management Authority where you filed. If the damage-assessment survey is pending, the revenue official or patwari who inspected the site is the right first point of contact. Relief is credited by direct bank transfer once the assessment is approved, so make sure your Aadhaar-seeded bank details are correct to avoid a failed transfer.

Help and where to raise a problem

• Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority (USDMA), usdma.uk.gov.in.
• District Disaster Management Authority / District Magistrate office. The authority that runs the damage survey and pays the relief.
• Tehsil / revenue office; first point to report house damage and file the claim.

If a claim is wrongly rejected or the assessed amount seems not to match the survey, the first escalation is the District Magistrate, who chairs the District Disaster Management Authority, and then the state relief machinery under the Department of Disaster Management and Rehabilitation and USDMA. Keep the survey report, ownership proof and your acknowledgement together, since a documented survey is what any review will turn on.

Key facts to remember

• Fully destroyed house: Rs 1,30,000 in hilly areas, Rs 1,20,000 in the plains.
• Partly damaged pucca house (15%+ damage): Rs 6,500; kutcha house: Rs 4,000; attached cattle shed: Rs 3,000.
• Ex-gratia for a death in a notified disaster: Rs 4,00,000 to the next of kin.
• The house must be an authorised construction, and the damage must come from a notified natural disaster.
• Relief is paid from the State Disaster Response Fund by the district administration after a damage-assessment survey.

Note: the Rs 1,30,000 / Rs 1,20,000 and partial-damage figures are the standing SDRF norm amounts Uttarakhand follows; for a specific disaster the district administration issues operative orders, so confirm the current process and any event-specific enhancement with the DDMA.