An inter-ministerial team of the Government of India, which came to take stock of the damage caused by the disaster in the state, met CM Pushkar.
CM Pushkar said that Uttarakhand is a very sensitive state from the point of view of disaster. During the monsoon period, the state faces severe problems of landslides, floods and waterlogging due to excessive rainfall. He said that in order to reduce the damage caused by landslides, the national level institutions will have to work together to further develop the forecasting system.
The Chief Minister said that due to excessive rainfall this year, there has been a lot of damage in different areas of the state. Apart from the loss of lives, property damage has also been reported. He said that incidents of cloudbursts and landslides in the hilly areas of the state cause permanent damage to the land, it is not possible to reuse such places for agriculture or construction work. He also called for an effective action plan in this regard. Members of the inter-ministerial team from the Government of India visited various areas of Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, Pauri Garhwal, Chamoli, Bageshwar and Nainital districts to take stock of the damage caused by the calamity and met the Chief Minister at the Secretariat on Wednesday.
The team was led by Shri R. Prasanna, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India and included Deputy Secretary Sher Bahadur, Superintending Engineer Sudhir Kumar, Deputy Director Vikas Sachan, Chief Engineer Pankaj Singh, Director Dr. The inter-ministerial team, while referring to the feedback received after interacting with the disaster-affected people, appreciated the relief work being carried out by the state government in the affected areas. The central team also pointed out the better arrangements of accommodation and food in the relief camps, providing medical facilities on the spot and other basic facilities for the disaster affected. The Central team said that the immediate assistance of Rs. 5 lakh given by the State Government to the next of kin of the deceased and those whose houses have been completely damaged in the disaster has also brought much relief to the affected people. The central team also appreciated the initiative of making the complete data of all pregnant women in the state available with the district administration and keeping them in constant touch to arrange for their health and safe delivery. The team members said that they will submit their suggestions for adopting such important initiatives in other states as well.
The central team said that the possibility of future damage due to rise in water level due to excessive siltation in rivers due to landslides and floods in the affected areas has also been brought to their notice during the visit. Chief Secretary Anand Vardhan, Additional Chief Secretary R.K. Sudhanshu, Secretary Disaster Management Vinod Kumar Suman, Additional Chief Executive Officer of the State Disaster Management Authority Anand Swaroop were present on the occasion. Department of Information and Public Relations