New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi today left for Jammu and Kasmir to review the situation in the flood-ravished
areas in the state.
The Prime Minister will hold meetings with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and senior officials of the state government and discuss rescue and relief measures.
He will also meet army and security officials who are actively involved in rescue and relief operations. Several residents told UNI on phone from Jammu and Srinagar that the flood situation was very “grim” and large areas of Srinagar city were submerged under several feet of water. In Jammu, however, the flood situation has shown little improvement.
More than 100 people have lost their lives in the flood and several thousands have been evacuated. The Army has deployed more than 110 columns and engineer teams and rescued 13,000 people trapped in flooded villages in Jammu and Kashmir while the Indian Air Force (IAF) has alerted all its bases to a high state of readiness and pressed into service men and material.
The IAF till late last night mounted IL-76 sorties and pressed into action two AN-32 aircraft to airlift NDRF teams and equipment from Bhatinda to Srinagar and Jammu Air Force Bases.
The Western Air Command has opened a disaster monitoring cell that is coordinating between all its bases, including Srinagar, Udhampur, Jammu and Sarsawa apart from fixed wing effort from other bases.
Army Formations continued to reach out to flood-affected people and Army helicopters were put on standby even though poor weather is restricting their full deployment. “The Army has intensified ‘Mission Sahayata’ in view of the worsening flood situation and inundation of hundreds of villages,” a Defence spokesman said here. As the number of shelterless people is rising, the Army has also provided tented accommodation to 3,000 people. Major flood rescue operations started on September 2. However, with increasing involvement, Mission Sahayata was launched in the entire Valley.
(Agencies)
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