Will tour all 10 districts to assess damages
Team to submit report to MHA on return to Delhi
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Sept 3: A high-level seven-member Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) deputed by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) reached here this evening from New Delhi and will tour all 10 districts of the Jammu region before returning to the Union Capital with its findings on September 7.
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The team is headed by Col KP Singh, Advisor (Operations and Communication), National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), MHA.
The team comprised senior officers from Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), Power, Rural Development, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Jal Shakti and FCD.
Headed by Col KP Singh, the team landed here this evening and will start touring the districts immediately for on spot assessment of damages caused by floods and landslides triggered by cloudbursts and heavy rains.
Other senior officers who are part of the team include Navin Kumar Chaurasia, Regional Officer-Jammu of MoRTH, Arti Singh, Deputy Director, Ministry of Power, CEA, Rakesh Kumar, Under Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development, Dr Vikram Singh, Joint Director, Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shachi Jain, Director, Ministry of Jal Shakti and Kandarp V Patel, Deputy Secretary (FCD), Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance
The team will tour Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts on September 4, Udhampur, Reasi and Ramban districts on September 5, Kishtwar and Doda districts on September 6 and Rajouri and Poonch districts on September 7.
The high-level team reached just two days after Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to the Jammu region to review flood-related situation. He had announced that an Inter-Ministerial Central Team will visit the region to assess damages caused to Government infrastructure and civilian property in flash floods and landslides which were triggered by heavy rains and cloudbursts at some places.
Significantly, damages have been reported in all 10 districts of the region and, therefore, the Central team will be visiting all the districts, inter-act with officers there including the Deputy Commissioners and local people in the areas which have been affected by severe damages and make its assessment.
The team will submit its report to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs on its return to New Delhi based on which the Central Government could announce relief and rehabilitation package for civilians hit by the floods and reconstruction of infrastructure damages.
Sources said some of the infrastructure damaged by the floods has to be repaired by the Central Government agencies like the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and Border Roads Organisation (BRO) among others while repair of some of the damaged infrastructure falls under domain of the UT Government.
More than 150 people have been killed in the floods with Kishtwar district alone accounting for 100. While 66 dead bodies of the people, mostly Machail Mata Ji pilgrims killed at Chashoti in Kishtwar, have been recovered, 31 people are still missing and are feared dead in the landslide tragedy triggered by cloudburst which struck on August 14. Besides, 34 pilgrims of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Ji shrine were killed in a landslide at Adh-Kunwari on August 26.
Seven persons each were killed in Kathua and Reasi and four each in Doda and Ramban besides others in different districts.
The Government is confident that the Central Government will release handsome package to compensate next of kin of the dead and those who lost their houses, shops, structures, cattle etc in the floods besides funds for reconstruction and repair of infrastructure.
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