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Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi Friday said the natural calamity that struck Uttarakhand has the proportions of a national tragedy.
"In this hour of crisis, the whole country stands in solidarity with the hill state. We will do all we can to lend a helping hand to the state government to deal with this crisis," Modi told reporters soon after he arrived in Dehradun on Friday night.
The BJP leader arrived in Dehradun to undertake a tour of the affected areas in rain-hit Uttarakhand where the famed Char Dhams have borne the brunt of devastation, especially Kedarnath which has turned virtually into a ghost town with an unspecified number of bodies lying under tonnes of debris in the temple premises and many strewn all over.
Modi said he will meet Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna on Saturday and offer all help needed to meet the situation.
The Gujarat CM is also here to ensure smooth passage of pilgrims from his state stranded at the Himalayan shrines to their homes.
Two chartered planes 747 Boeings (Jet Airways) with a capacity of 140 persons each will start evacuating Gujarat pilgrims from high altitude areas in Uttarakhand to Ahmedabad in two separate sorties Saturday.