Awarded Rs 2.23 cr compensation, woman says not enough for mental trauma she faced
Ranjana Verma, whose four-storey home in Sanjay Van Colony, Shimla, crumbled while a four-lane highway project was under construction, has been awarded Rs 2.23 crore in compensation by the Himachal Pradesh High Court. However, the woman insists the payout falls short of covering the mental anguish she endured following the disaster.
She claims the compensation does not reflect the value of her home, which was valued at Rs 1.65 crore by the court, along with Rs 58.38 lakh for her belongings. Verma, who lost her husband in a 2015 road accident, asserts that she and her neighbors repeatedly warned the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the private contractor about the unsafe hill-cutting practices.
The High Court found NHAI liable for the collapse, regardless of whether the hill-cutting was carried out correctly. The court also ordered the Himachal Pradesh government to reconsider the value of a neighboring house that suffered damage.
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