Union Home Minister Amit Shah Takes Stock Of Disaster Situation In Uttarakhand

Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah took stock of the situation by conducting an aerial survey of the disaster-affected areas of the state. He was accompanied by the Governor of Uttarakhand Lt. (S.N.) Shri Gurmeet Singh, Chief Minister Shri Pushkar Singh Dhami, Union Minister of State for Defence Shri Ajay Bhatt, Uttarakhand Disaster Management Minister Dr. Dhan Singh Rawat and Rajya Sabha MP Shri Anil Baluni.

Shri Amit Shah reviewed the disaster situation in the state and the relief and rescue operations conducted in the state. He said that the Central Government would extend all possible help to the Devbhoomi. What can be done for better disaster management in future, the state government should send its suggestions in this regard. Medical teams should be sent to the disaster-prone and waterlogged areas so that the spread of any kind of diseases can be prevented. Damaged power lines should be completely repaired at the earliest. Better coordination was seen between the central and state agencies, it should be maintained like this. Giving a presentation to the Union Home Minister in the meeting, it was told that immediately after receiving the heavy rain alert, a review was done at the Chief Minister’s level. Immediately Incident Response System was activated at the state and district level. As a precautionary measure, pilgrims and tourists were stopped at safe places. Also, a holiday was declared in schools and Anganwadi centers. Passengers and general public were also alerted through various means. Trackers were also alerted. The water level of the rivers was continuously monitored and necessary steps were taken. According to the IMD, the normal rainfall is 1.1 mm while it has received 122.4 mm of rain. Record rain fell everywhere in these two days. But with timely alerts and taking precautionary measures accordingly, the loss could be minimized. At present 17 teams of NDRF are deployed in the state.

Expressing gratitude for the cooperation received from Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and the Central Government, Chief Minister Shri Pushkar Singh Dhami said that the State Government, along with Army, NDRF, CWC, BRO could reduce the intensity of the disaster. Every effort is being made to provide maximum relief to the people. The Char Dham has also started.

After the meeting, Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah while talking to the media said that the Government of India stands with Devbhoomi in every way in this situation of crisis. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has done a very good job. Due to this less damage has been done. Similar coordination will continue in the coming days as well.

Shri Amit Shah said that he took stock of the situation in a two-hour aerial inspection and review meeting. It is clear that due to timely alert by the Government of India, the damage could be minimized. After receiving the warning 24 hours ago, the Chief Minister activated the entire system. People were also alerted. The Chardham Yatris were already stopped at safe places. As a result of this, so far no casualty has been reported among the Chardham Yatris. The journey has already started. All the agencies were activated on time. The Prime Minister talked to the Chief Minister and provided helicopters to the state on time. All possible cooperation is being given from the Government of India. There was good coordination between Center Water Commission and Irrigation Department. There have been 64 unfortunate deaths so far. Some people are missing. Most of the roads have been opened. The supply of drinking water, electricity, telephone network has also been substantially restored. Under the leadership of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, the state government carried out the relief and rescue work very well. This saved many lives. 3500 people were rescued while 16 thousand people were taken to safe places as a precaution. 17 teams of NDRF, 60 teams of SDRF, 15 companies of PAC and 5000 police personnel are still engaged in rescue and relief. Soon normalcy will return. The damage is being assessed. The actual damage will be assessed after the complete survey. By the way, an amount of Rs. 250 crore has already been given to Uttarakhand in the Disaster Fund. This is being worked on.