MoS Defence Ajay Bhatt to visit flood-affected areas in Uttarakhand tomorrow
Dehradun: At least 3 people have been reported dead and 4 are missing following heavy rains in Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand, the State Government said here today. Besides, frequent landslides have blocked several highways in ate state and rivers are in spate in the state. The Pithoragarh-Tawaghat road between kilometer 98 to 102 has been significantly damaged. The Border Road Organisation (BRO) along with National Disaster Relief Force and the entire team of local administration are engaged in relief and rescue operation.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami today reached Village Jumma, a disaster affected area of Dharchula, a frontier tehsil of Pithoragarh district, to take stock of the damage caused by heavy rains in the region in the recent past, and met and visited the disaster victims. He further took stock of the rescue work being carried out to search for the missing persons from the disaster at Jamuni Tok in Jumma. He also conducted an aerial survey of the disaster affected area and took stock of the damage. He met the disaster victims of Jamuni and Sirouyar Tok of Jumma at SSB Camp at Elagad in Jumma and expressed grief. The Chief Minister also provided a cheque of Rs.4 lakh per deceased to the affected families. He said that an additional amount of Rs.1 lakh will also be provided as assistance to the family from the Chief Minister’s Financial Assistance Fund per deceased.
Dhami further directed Kumaon Commissioner and District Collector Pithoragarh to immediately bring people from the affected area to safer places. Adequate arrangements should be made for food items, medicines and milk to the children along with the stay of the affected people. He asked the authorities to ensure that no one was trapped in the affected area. The Chief Minister directed the Kumaon Commissioner to work on a war footing to expedite the introduction of traffic in the affected area. The debris of the road should be removed from the PWD team at the earliest, he said.
The Minister of State for Defence, Ajay Bhatt also took stock of the damage in a meeting with Director General of Border Roads Organisation (BRO), Lt General Rajeev Choudhary, in New Delhi today. They would visit Dharchula for a day tomorrow, along with Member of Parliament Ajay Tamta, to take stock of the flood situation there. It may be mentioned that catchment area of the Kali river at Dharchula had suffered damage due to cloudburst and incessant rains for the last 5-6 days. Reports say heavy monsoon rains in the state have triggered landslides that have blocked several highways.
Lt General Chaudhary today apprised the minister of the situation and the relief and rescue operations and assured him that BRO will provide all possible help to the state government in the border areas.
– global bihari bureau
