Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday took stock of the floods in Uttarakhand and assured Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat of all possible help.
Various teams of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police and the National Disaster Response Force were rushed to flood-hit areas in Uttarakhand, hours after a glacier burst at Joshimath and caused water levels to rise in the Dhauliganga river on Sunday, officials said.
The extent of damage can only be ascertained later, however massive destruction is feared.
Taking to Twitter, Amit Shah informed that several teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed for relief operations while additional troops of the force are being airlifted from Delhi.
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"I have spoken to Chief Minister @tsrawatbjp ji, DG ITBP and DG NDRF regarding the natural disaster in Uttarakhand. All the concerned officers are working on a war footing to secure the people. NDRF teams have left for rescue operations. Every possible help will be provided to 'Devbhoomi'," he said.
The central government is constantly monitoring the situation in Uttarakhand.
A home ministry spokesman said a total of four NDRF teams (about 200 personnel) are being airlifted to Dehradun and they will reach Joshimath soon.
As news of the disaster came in, two teams were rushed from Dehradun to Joshimath, NDRF Director General S N Pradhan said. “We are working to airlift three-four more teams from the Hindon IAF base near Delhi,” he added.
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More than 150 labourers working at the Rishi Ganga power project may have been directly affected, said State Disaster Response Force DIG Ridhim Aggarwal.
“Representatives of the power project have told me that they are not being able to contact around 150 of their workmen at the project site," she said.
Though details are awaited, several districts, including Pauri, Tehri, Rudraprayag, Haridwar and Dehradun, are likely to be affected and have been put on high alert.
With PTI Alerts
