rediff.com
News APP

NewsApp (Free)

Read news as it happens
Download NewsApp

Available on  gplay

Rediff.com  » News » 3,000 still missing in flood-ravaged Uttarakhand
This article was first published 11 years ago

3,000 still missing in flood-ravaged Uttarakhand

June 28, 2013 09:25 IST

Image: Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel search for flood victims in a damaged house in Uttarkashi. Uttarakhand
Photographs: ITBP/Reuters Shishir Prashant

Till Wednesday, the state government was saying that only 344 people were missing

More than 3,000 people are reportedly missing from various parts of flood-ravaged Uttarakhand, according to a tentative list prepared by the state government. “We have prepared a tentative list of missing persons. We will now try to find whether these people are alive or not, with the help of their mobile numbers,” said state chief secretary Subhash Kumar.

The government will try to locate the missing persons through their call details post June 14. This would help the government ascertain whether they actually visited the Char-dham pilgrim areas, one of the worst-affected regions in the hill state.

Complete Coverage: Uttarakhand Disaster 2013

...

3,000 still missing in flood-ravaged Uttarakhand

Image: Relatives of missing people, affected by the flash floods and landslides, display their photographs outside the Indian Air Force base in Dehradun
Photographs: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters

However, the government still maintains that a total of 560 people have died in the floods. Earlier, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna had indicated the casualty figure might cross 1,000. A bulletin issued by the state government on Thursday usaid while 560 people were dead, 436 sustained injuries.

Till Wednesday, the government was saying only 344 people were missing.

...


3,000 still missing in flood-ravaged Uttarakhand

Image: A villager crosses a road damaged by a landslide due to heavy rainfall in Gauchar
Photographs: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters

“Since we have cleared Kedarnath area and also most of the Badrinath area, chances are very bleak that those missing will be alive. We are also not ruling out chances of some who could be found at a later stage through combing operations,” said a top police official.

The chief secretary said the government would amend laws to declare those missing as dead in a month’s time in order to provide compensation.

...

3,000 still missing in flood-ravaged Uttarakhand

Image: Posters of missing people, caused by the flash floods and landslides, are placed on a gate as an IAF helicopter lands at a base in Dehradun
Photographs: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters

“It takes seven years under normal process to declare a missing person dead under the civil code. But we will wait for only one month in order to provide compensation,” said Subhash Kumar.

He said he would approach other state governments in this regard so that compensation could be provided without delay.

Monsoon wreaks havoc in Uttarakhand


...

Source: source