Negotiations on global plastics treaty opens in Ottawa
The session aims to advance negotiations so that the Committee can finalise, at its fifth session (INC-5) in November, the text of the instrument.
press trust of india
ALMORA/DEHRADUN, 29 JUNE: Two weeks after flashfloods and landslides devastated Uttarakhand, there is no clarity on the death toll; Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal today claimed it may cross 10,000, while Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde pegged the figure at 900.
In Almora, Mr Kunjwal said: “Earlier, when I returned from a tour of the Garhwal region, I believed the casualty figure could be 4,000-5,000. But now, as per my information and bodies being seen by people, I can say the figure can cross the 10,000 mark.”
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, however, trashed Mr Kunjwal’s claim, saying true figures will come out once the debris have been cleared.
Mr Shinde, who was in Mumbai also countered Kunjwal&’s claim. “According to my information, last night, the toll was 900,” he said.
Rescue work in the Badrinath area resumed during the day after some delay due to bad weather and 1,313 pilgrims, including some villagers, were evacuated ~ 600 by helicopters and the remaining by road, chief secretary Subhash Kumar told reporters in Dehradun. He said about 500 people still remain to be evacuated.
Efforts are also being made on a war-footing to ensure supply of essential relief material to over 600 villages in Rudraprayag, Chamoli and Uttarkashi districts, which are cut off after the floods. So far, 2,379 metric ton wheat and 2,875 metric ton rice have been dispatched to villages.
The frequently changing weather is hampering work as relief material can be supplied only by air, officials said.
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