Says government of India is standing firmly with the people of the state in this hour of crisis
Friday 22nd October,2021 | PNS | Dehradun
The union home minister Amit Shah took stock of the situation of the disaster in Uttarakhand on Thursday by conducting an aerial survey of the affected areas. He was accompanied by the governor of Uttarakhand Lieutenant General (Retd) Gurmit Singh, chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, union minister of state for defence Ajay Bhatt, Rajya Sabha MP Anil Baluni and disaster management minister Dhan Singh Rawat in the inspection which lasted for about two hours.
Shah also presided over a high level meeting at state guest house in Jollygrant in which he reviewed the relief and rescue operations. In the meeting he sought suggestions on better disaster management. He said that medical teams should be dispatched to the areas affected by disaster and where water logging has occurred. Shah called for better coordination between the state and central agencies. The home minster was informed that after the alert of heavy rainfall was received the CM himself undertook a review meeting of the preparations. The Char Dham Yatra was stopped and the pilgrims were sent to safe places. Holiday was declared in schools and Anganwadi centres and an alert was sounded. Shah was also informed about the severity of the rainfall and told that 17 teams of NDRF are currently deployed in the state. The CM of Uttarakhand, Pushkar Singh Dhami expressed gratitude of timely help received from the centre and said that the intensity of the disaster was reduced by this.
Later talking with the media persons, Shah said that the government of India is standing firmly with the people of the state in this hour of crisis. He appreciated the efforts taken by the state government in dealing with the disaster. Shah said that the government of India had given an advance warning and the CM of Uttarakhand had alerted the system 24 hours before the disaster struck. Yatra was stopped and the pilgrims were sent to safe places as a result of which there is no report of any mis happening with the tourists. Shah said 64 people died in the disaster and some are still missing. He said that 3500 persons were rescued and 16,000 were sent to safe places. On the question of relief package, Shah said that the losses are being assessed and actual data would be available after the survey. He said that the union government has already given Rs 250 Crore to the state.
