The State Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna flagged off 92 tonnes of relief material contributed by HelpAge India from the Secretariat, at Dehradun on Thursday.
HelpAge India has prepared winter kits comprising warm clothes and food for the disaster-affected families. Along with this, the CM also flagged off two mobile health units to function in collaboration with Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam limited.
The convoy headed towards Guptakashi town which serves as a base, the winter relief packages will be distributed across 20 of the worst affected villages of the Kedar valley area reaching 2200 families. The three key distribution points are Byung, Phata and Nyalsu villages. Distribution will also be done on foot by the HelpAge team where accessibility for villagers is a major problem.
"The aim is to reach the unreached. We will be sending relief material upto the last village situated in Kedar valley called Tausi, which is completely non-motorable and one has to trek 6 kms on foot to reach it. Villages such as these did not receive any aid since the disaster and with the
oncoming winters the condition of the people is likely to get worse", said HelpAge India, coutry head programmes Avenash Datta. To ensure that the relief reaches those that need it most, each beneficiary family has been identified and given an ID token.
The State Head, HelpAge India, Aapga Singh stated that each family kit would include winter clothes as well as food material. This kit includes material which would protect people from harsh
winters. The food ration kit consists of Mandua, Wheat, Kulath cereal, Bhatt, sugar, salt, mustard oil, tea leaves, spices and match sticks.
She said that the 18 trucks would leave for Guptkashi. This relief material would be sent from there to 20 villages in Kedar Valley. The winter kit will be distributed to 2,200 families in 20 villages.