On 9/11, Rupa Bhattacharyya was in an office near the White House watching TV as the second plane smashed into the World Trade Center.
She walked nine miles home — too afraid to use the subway.
Now Bhattacharyya, the new special master of the federal 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund, says she’s eager to dole out money to brave first responders who ran to Ground Zero after the Twin Towers fell, and others caught in the dust.
“That’s a debt the American people owe, and I’m glad to be part of the program that pays that debt,” she told The Post.
She’s worked as a lawyer for the US Department of Justice for 20 years and overseen federal programs that compensate citizens for vaccine injuries and radiation exposure from atomic-bomb tests.
The VCF has already paid out $1.8 billion to more than 9,000 claimants under former special master Sheila Birnbaum, who relinquished her pro-bono post last month to return to her law practice.
Battacharyya, who is salaried, has a pot of nearly $5.6 billion to distribute since President Obama signed a law in December to extend the fund for another five years.
The New Orleans native has vowed to focus on processing a backlog of long-pending claims for thousands of 9/11 workers — many who have died waiting.
And she faces new claims by those being diagnosed with cancers the government has linked to the WTC toxic debris. People who lived, worked or went to school near Ground Zero are also eligible.
“It’s terrifying to know that so many people, this many years out, are still affected in such life-changing ways,” she said.
Battacharyya oversees a staff of 124, including 32 lawyers who review claims, but she makes all the final decisions on payments.