Union Home Minister Amit Shah has reached here to assess the situation in the aftermath of the cloudbursts, heavy rain and flash floods in Jammu and Kashmir that have left a trail of death and destruction.
File Photo
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has reached here to assess the situation in the aftermath of the cloudbursts, heavy rain and flash floods in Jammu and Kashmir that have left a trail of death and destruction.
Shah announced the constitution of Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCTs) for Jammu and Kashmir and States including Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab for assessment of damages caused by rains, floods, cloudbursts and landslides.
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These IMCT would make an on-the-spot assessment of the situation and relief works carried out by the State Government.
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These Central Teams will visit early next week the flood and 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.
An IMCT, and a Multi-Sectoral Team have already visited the state of Himachal Pradesh.
The Central Teams are led by a senior officer at the level of Joint Secretary in MHA/ NDMA. They will have senior officers from the Ministries and Departments of Expenditure, Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Jal Shakti, Power, Road Transport &Highways, and Rural Development.
As per the decision taken by the Union Home Minister Shah, in August 2019, the MHA constituted IMCTs immediately in the aftermath of a severe disaster for on-spot assessment of the damage, without waiting for their memorandum. After the assessment of damage is done by the IMCT, Central Government provides additional financial assistance to State from NDRF, as per the established procedure, said an official spokesman.
Shah landed at the Jammu airport at 9.35 pm last night and was received by Lt Governor Manoj Sinha and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, among others. He then headed to the Raj Bhawan, officials said.
He is expected to conduct an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas, including Katra, where 35 pilgrims died and 20 were injured when a landslide hit the old route to the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine on 26 August, and the cloudburst-hit Chishoti village in Kishtwar where 67 pilgrims were killed and about 40 are still missing.
Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, Director Intelligence Bureau Tapan Deka, DG BSF Daljit Singh Chaudhary, senior officers of NHAI, IMD and many other security agencies have also reached here.
The Home Minister will chair a high-level meeting with the senior officers at Raj Bhawan here at 11.30 am today to assess damages caused by floods and landslides to Government infrastructure and civilian property.
He is also scheduled to review the damage caused to fencing and border posts along the International Border with Pakistan.
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