Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 7: Coming to the rescue of earthquake affected victims of Doda and Kishtwar districts, which have brazenly been ignored by the State Government, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad, who happened to be former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, today sent relief items including family tents and blankets for the people affected by quake in the two districts in the afternoon of May 1.
The relief material dispatched from New Delhi for Doda and Kishtwar by Mr Azad would cater to the needs of at least 10,000 persons. The relief material was valued at over Rs 1.5 crores.
Mr Azad, who also happened to be the Chairman of Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS) flagged off a fleet of trucks carrying relief material for earthquake victims, in New Delhi this morning in the office of the IRCS.
The relief material included 1000 family tents and 2000 woolen blankets, which would help the earthquake victims in Doda and Kishtwar districts. The cost of the relief material amounted to Rs 1.5 crores and it could cater to the needs of at least 10,000 persons.
The earthquake has damaged a large number of houses in Doda and Kishtwar district with Bhaderwah, the hometown of Mr Azad bearing the maximum brunt where majority of houses have developed cracks. In view of continued aftershocks, the people were afraid of returning to the houses especially during the nights fearing the worst.
Their agony has been compounded with recent rains and a blind eye turned towards their problems by the State Government. The people of the two districts were highly critical of the State Government for not doing enough to mitigate their sufferings in the hour of crisis.
While flagging off relief material to Doda and Kishtwar districts from the IRCS Headquarters in New Delhi, Mr Azad said the aftershocks are still being felt continuously even after a week of the earthquake, which have further aggravated damage to the houses.
“As per preliminary reports of survey, a large number of families are spending the nights in the open due to fear of collapse of their damaged houses. As per Doda district administration’s report, 11,856 household have been reportedly damaged and 70 persons have suffered mild to serious injuries,” he added.
Noting that Indian Red Cross Society is also in constant touch with Jammu and Kashmir State Red Cross branch in Srinagar and local district authorities, Mr Azad said: “as an immediate response to earthquake victims, the IRCH through its State Red Cross branch has already supplied 135 family tents and 100 woolen blankets from its residual stock.
Mr Azad said the Indian Red Cross Society has enough stock of relief material to meet any further needs of the affected people.
He added that the National Headquarters of the Indian Red Cross Society along with respective state and district branches have joined the local administration in relief and rescue operations.
Dr S P Aggarwal, Secretary General, IRCS said: “we are in constant touch with J&K’s Red Cross branch officials and are closely monitoring the situation in earthquake affected areas”. He added that any further help needed by the quake victims would also be met with.
Worthwhile to mention here that Mr Azad had visited the earthquake affected areas on May 4 along with M Shashidhar Reddy, Vice Chairman of National Disaster Management Authority and reviewed relief measures being undertaken by the district administration to the affected people.
The reports emanating from Doda and Kishtwar districts especially the earthquake affected areas continued to speak of the Government’s apathy towards the victims especially the measures required for rehabilitation of the worst hit people.
Follow our WhatsApp channel