CM Omar to present report; MHA sets up IMCT to visit UT
Jammu, Aug 31: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday reached here to assess the situation in the aftermath of the heavy rain and flash floods in Jammu and Kashmir that left a trail of death and destruction.
Shah landed at the Jammu airport and was received by Lt Governor Manoj Sinha and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, among others. He then headed to the Raj Bhawan, officials said.
Shah is scheduled to chair a high-level meeting at the Raj Bhawan on Monday to review relief measures, they said.
He is also likely to conduct an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas, including Katra, where 34 pilgrims died and 20 were injured when a landslide hit the old route to the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine on August 26, and the cloudburst-hit Chisoti village in Kishtwar.
More than 130 people have been killed, over 120 injured and 33 are untraceable following cloudbursts, landslides and flash floods in Kishtwar, Kathua, Reasi and Ramban districts since August 14.
Record rainfall on August 26-27 also caused flash floods in low-lying areas in Jammu and other plains, causing widespread damage to public and private infrastructure.
Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah is visiting Jammu and Kashmir to assess the damage caused by flash floods triggered by cloudbursts and record rainfall early this week.
“The home minister is solely coming here to assess the situation in the aftermath of the heavy rains and flash floods and look at our requirement from the Centre (to cope with the crisis). He has no other purpose, and he is not coming for security or development review,” Abdullah said.
Interacting with reporters in Udhampur after reviewing the ground situation along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, which remained blocked for the sixth day on Sunday, Abdullah said he will put forth a detailed report to the Union home minister during the meeting at the Raj Bhavan.
Ahead of Shah’s arrival, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has constituted Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCTs) for Jammu and Kashmir, as well as for Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab to assess damage caused by heavy rainfall, flood, flash flood, cloudburst and landslides.
These IMCT would make on-the-spot assessment of the situation and relief works carried out by the State Government.
These Central Teams will visit early next week the flood/ landslide-affected districts of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir, which have been severely affected by heavy to extremely heavy rainfall and incidents of flash flood, cloudburst and landslides, during the current monsoon season, officials said.
The Central Teams are led by a senior officer of the level of Joint Secretary in MHA/ NDMA and will have senior officers from the Ministries/ Departments of Expenditure, Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Jal Shakti, Power, Road Transport &Highways, Rural Development.
The MHA is in touch with senior officers of these states/UT, and has extended all necessary logistic assistance by deployment of requisite number of teams of NDRF, Army and Air force helicopters, who are helping them in search & rescue and restoration of essential services.
