|
Kashmir : PM assures more funds for avalanche-hit state |
 |
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has assured more funds and help to Jammu and Kashmir which has been hit by the worst snow-storms in fifty years. The announcement was made by the Prime Minister while addressing media persons in Jammu after an aerial survey of the devastated areas in Kashmir and the Doda district of the Jammu region. A central team visited the snow-storm affected areas after the Prime Minister’s announcement. Manmohan Singh also announced an ex-gratia grant of Rs.1,00,000/- each from the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund for the next of kin of those killed. The Centre has provided a grant of Rs. 50 crore to the State Government for rebuilding the infrastructure damaged in snow-storms and avalanches. More funds would be sent on the recommendation of the central team.
PM lauds military for Kashmir relief operations
During his visit to the state, the Prime Minister inter-acted with military commanders who briefed him about the situation in the Valley. He lauded the armed forces’ role in relief operations.
“You have done the entire nation proud,” Manmohan Singh, who toured the worst hit areas of the state on Feb 27, told senior Army Commanders.
Manmohan Singh listened intently to Lt. Gen. Hari Prasad, the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Army’s Northern Command, when he narrated how troops responded to the situation in avalanche-hit villages, rescuing scores of people.
The Prime Minister was briefed on the situation and the response of the armed forces for about 40 minutes.
Army and Air Force personnel have been working round the clock to rescue people buried under snow following avalanches across the state and to ferry food and fuel to areas cut off following the snowfall. Soldiers have donated their rations to feed the hungry and travellers stranded on the strategic Jammu-Srinagar highway. On Feb 26 alone, all the troops in Jammu and Kashmir donated a day’s rations to provide 250 tonnes of food to people in villages that were washed away by avalanches.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) seems set to beat its record of 800 sorties in any peacetime rescue operation in Jammu and Kashmir since 1947. Governor Lt. Gen. (retired) S.K. Sinha described the ongoing rescue and relief operations in snow-locked Jammu and Kashmir as the biggest airlift exercise in the state since 1947 when 800 sorties were flown from Delhi to Srinagar.
State Government asks for Rs. 1500 crore
The Jammu and Kashmir Government has sought central assistance of Rs. 1,500 crore to meet immediate expenditure on the rehabilitation of avalanche affected families and restoration of essential services in the State. The death toll in the snow-storms has gone up to over 300 and may rise further when contact is established with remote areas. About 2,000 people have been injured or disabled in the calamity. The State government projected the demand of Rs. 1500 crore at a meeting with the Central Team which visited the state on the Prime Minister’s directive.
Terrorists toll
On the law and order front, Indian troops killed 42 terrorists in February even as the Army was involved in a massive operation to provide relief to people affected by the heaviest snowfall. The Army lost only two soldiers during anti-insurgency operations last month, Brigadier Vikram Singh told reporters.
Singh said most of the terrorists killed were foreign mercenaries, who were tracked down on the basis of what he called “accurate intelligence inputs”. The kill ratio showed there was no let-up in counter-insurgency operations in spite of the heavy snowfall in the Kashmir Valley since Feb 6.
Army sources say that several militants may have fallen victim to the season’s unprecedented snowfall in Jammu and Kashmir. The snow was the highest in the regions known to be the hubs of militancy. The supply routes of militants in the remote areas have been affected. Some of the bodies recovered in the avalanche hit areas may also be of militants.
|
