By ARUN PRATAP SINGH
Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 5 Sep: Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee President Karan Mahara has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in which he has urged the Union Government to declare the ongoing calamities in the state as a national disaster and to extend immediate assistance to the state.
In his letter to PM Modi, Mahara has drawn his attention to the fact that the entire state is currently grappling with unprecedented natural disasters triggered by incessant heavy rainfall, which has resulted in large-scale loss of life and property in all the hill districts. Mahara stated that hundreds of people have lost their lives, while cloudburst incidents in Dharali in Uttarkashi, Tharali in Chamoli, Kapkot in Bageshwar, Dharchula in Pithoragarh, and Thalisain in Pauri Garhwal have wreaked havoc on daily life.
The PCC Chief observed that road connectivity to main highways has been snapped across most rural areas in 10 hill districts, severely affecting relief operations. In Dharali village of Uttarkashi, the Kheer Ganga River has swept away markets, houses, hotels and other commercial buildings, and he apprehended that many people might be still trapped under the debris. The state government’s disaster management machinery, Mahara alleged, failed to act upon prior alerts issued by the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), exposing the inadequacy of Uttarakhand’s disaster preparedness. He also claimed that an exact figure of those missing or critically injured in the wake of continuous cloudbursts and torrential rains is still awaited.
Mahara further noted that widespread panic prevails among residents of the affected regions and that, in many affected places, the people are being forced to spend nights under the open sky despite relentless rains. The meteorological department has sounded further warnings of heavy rainfall and potential destruction in disaster-prone areas, underscoring the urgency of swift and decisive measures.
On behalf of the Congress party, Mahara also placed certain demands before the PM. He demanded that the natural calamity in Uttarakhand be declared a national disaster, and that the Centre immediately sanction a disaster relief package of Rs 10,000 crores. He demanded that each affected family be granted financial assistance of Rs 10 lakhs jointly by the Central and state governments. He also demanded an immediate survey of damaged residential and commercial properties and suitable compensation to the victims. Mahara further demanded setting up of a high-powered committee to oversee the permanent rehabilitation of affected populations to safer locations on the lines of the resettlement carried out for those displaced by the Tehri dam.
The Congress leader emphasised that the PM and the Union Government take an early decision on these issues in the larger interest of safeguarding lives and properties of the people in Uttarakhand’s hill districts.
