The Maharashtra Government on Wednesday announced a financial assistance of Rs10 crore to provide relief to the 1,300-odd tourists from Maharashtra stranded at various places in the rain-ravaged Uttarakhand, where there is major dislocation owing to landslides and floods triggered by incessant downpour.
A day after it rushed a team of senior officials from New Delhi to Dehradun to supervise the relief operations, the Congress-led DF Government — at a Cabinet meeting here — took stock of the situation arising out of reports that scores of tourists from Maharashtra had been stranded at several places of the rain-devastated northern State. It decided to set aside Rs10 crore for providing relief to the marooned people.
The State Government, which on Tuesday rushed its New Delhi-based Additional Resident Commissioner Pradeep Kumar to Dehradun to supervise the relief operations in Uttarakhand, decided to set up a second relief camp at Haridwar. This camp is in addition to the first one set up in Dehradun on Tuesday.
According to information gathered by various State Government agencies, as many as 1,353 tourists – mostly pilgrims –stranded at various places in the natural calamity-hit Uttarakhnd. Of them, the Government agencies have established “contact” with 1,019 marooned pilgrims, while effort is on to reach out to the remaining pilgrims.
Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, who is monitoring the situation from Mumbai, has been in touch with senior officials of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF)—the nodal agency that is combating the natural calamity in the northern State — and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna and is seeking regular updates on the situation.
The Army has set four make-shift helipads to airlift stranded pilgrims by helicopters to their home State. In all 17 helicopters have been deployed to airlift the marooned pilgrims. Simultaneously, the Army and Government agencies are air-dropping food pockets, water bottles and medicines in rain-hit and landslide-ravaged areas of Uttarakhand, where scores of roads have been washed away and many places have become inaccessible.
The stranded pilgrims may contact Additional Resident Commissioner Pradeep Kumar (mobile no 09868140663) and senior official Jagdish Chandra Upadhyay (09818187793) for assistance.
The State Government has also set up three help-lines –022-22027990, 22816625 and 22854168 – at Mantralaya (Secretariat) in Mumbai for providing assistance to the pilgrims stranded in Uttarakhand.