On morning of September 1, Union Home Minister Amit Shah toured several areas in Jammu city and nearby towns to inspect the damage caused by heavy rains that have devastated several areas in 10 districts of the province. He was accompanied by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, besides a host of senior officials, both from the Centre and Union Territory (UT) of Jammu.
More than 130 people have been killed and 33 have gone missing in cloudbursts, landslides and flash floods in Kishtwar, Kathua, Reasi, and Ramban districts since August 14. Record rainfall during August 26-27 caused flash floods in low-lying areas in Jammu and other plains, causing heavy damage to infrastructure. The dead include 34 pilgrims who were hit by a landslide en route to Mata Vaishno Devi shrine on August 26. LG Manoj Sinha has constituted a three-member committee to inquire into the issue of death or these devotees.
On August 24, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had visited Jammu to take stock of the situation following flash floods triggered by a cloudburst in Chishoti village in Kishtwar district. Singh could not visit the devastated village, on the way to Machail Mata shrine, due to inclement weather. Over 70 people were killed and more than 100 others were injured even as several were reported missing after flash floods in Chishoti on August 14.
Late on Sunday evening, Union Home Minister Amit Shah reached reached Jammu to take stock of problems created by heavy rains, cloudbursts and damage to the infrastructure in the province. Before his arrival, Shah had announced creation of Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCTs) for J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab for assessing damages caused by freak weather. These teams will then make recommendations to the Union government for providing relief.
On reaching Jammu around 9.30 PM, Shah was received by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, senior officials of civil and police administration. Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, Director Intelligence Bureau (IB) Tapan Deka, Director General of BSF Daljit Singh Chawdhary, besides senior officers of several ministries and departments were already in Jammu in view of the unprecedented situation.
He is scheduled to chair two meetings at Raj Bhawan to assess damages caused by floods and landslides both to the government infrastructure and civilian properties. At SKUAST Jammu alone, the damage runs into several crores as laboratories and classrooms got inundated with flood waters submerging costly equipment. Elsewhere, in Jammu city, and places like Reasi, Ramban, Rajouri, Kishtwar and Doda, several roads and building had suffered heavy damage last week.
Shah is also scheduled to conduct an aerial survey of several places where many people lost their lives. The Union Home Minister was also briefed about the extensive damage cause to the fencing and border posts along the International Border (IB) with Pakistan.
An official statement issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that the Ministry officials are in touch with officials from J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab to lend a helping hand. The MHA is in touch with senior officers of these States/UT, and has extended all necessary logistic assistance by deploying resources, including helicopters.
The statement further added that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Central Government stood with the people affected by natural calamities. “The Central Teams will visit the flood/ landslide-affected districts of J&K and three States, which have been severely affected by heavy to extremely heavy rainfall and incidents of flash flood, cloudburst and landslides, during the current monsoon season, early next week,” it said.
The Central teams will be 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 and Rural Development.
During the current financial year, the Central Government has released sufficient funds for undertaking disaster relief related works. Besides, it was ready to release more funds under different heads to the needy states and their people after damage assessments to mitigate their sufferings.
Meanwhile, due to continued inclement weather, Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Katra has ordered vacation of all hotels and commercial establishments located on the stretch from Asia Chowk to Darshani Deodi, with immediate effect. An order in this regard has been issued in view of heavy rains and inclement weather conditions that have resulted in massive landslides in the Katra Sub-Division in recent days, especially near Balini Bridge and near Shani Temple at Kadmal besides the sinking of roads at few spots making number of places vulnerable to future landslides and damages.
For the past few days, the yatra to the cave shrine of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi has remained disrupted as train services and buses are not plying on regular basis. The bustling bazaars now wears a deserted look and the countless hotels and dharamshalas wait for weather to improve so that the pilgrims return. As a gesture of goodwill and to render help to the stranded people, some Katra hoteliers are offering free accommodation to yatris.
“In view of the recent incidents reported, particularly the commercial establishments located on the hill from Asia Chowk to Balini Bridge and from Balini Bridge to Darshani Deodi have become vulnerable and may face such incidents in future. The continued operation of aforesaid commercial establishments poses a risk to public safety and security in view of the prevailing situation,” explains the order, adding that immediate preventive measures are necessary to avoid any untoward incident and to ensure smooth regulation of public order and safety of the pilgrims in the said area.
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