Concerned over the situation in Uttarakhand due to the natural calamity, Jharkhand Governor Syed Ahmed on Thursday called an emergency meeting at Raj Bhawan following a relief package of Rs 5 crore for the flash flood victims.
The Governor that a chopper be immediately sent to Uttarakhand to rescue the stranded people. He instructed the officials to extend all possible help to Uttarkhand. To get information about pilgrims of Jharkhand who are trapped there, the Governor instructed the officials to get necessary information as soon as possible and initiate efforts to bring the people back to the State.
Ahmed also ordered to set up a control room in the State and announce helpline numbers for the kin of the victims. Acting swiftly on the instructions of the Governor, Principal Secretary of the Home department, NN Pandey said that telephone numbers 2401878, 2401879, 2401880 and mobile phone numbers 9771400805, 9771400462 would be available for required information and the queries would be directed to the State control room.
The Governor said that officials and staff working at the helpline numbers must collect all the information and inform the people of the State.
Advisor to Governor, Madhukar Gupta talked to the Principal Secretary to Chief Minister of Uttarakhand on the instructions of the Governor and assured him that Jharkhand was ready to help people affected by the disaster with medicines, food, medical facilities or some other service. The governor also instructed senior officials of the State to be in constant touch with the officers of Uttarakhand.
Earlier in the day, the Governor had ordered release of Rs 5 crore for Uttarakhand and had expressed condolences. He said that he was particularly concerned about the people of Jharkhand who are still stranded. He appealed to the families of stranded people to keep calm.Senior officials of the State including Governor's Advisor Madhukar Gupta, Chief Secretary RS Sharma, Principal Secretary, Home NN Pandey, Principal Secretary of Cabinet Co-ordination JB Tubid, Principal Secretary to Governor NN Sinha were presnt in the emergency meeting.
As thousands of people are reported to have gone missing and hundreds feared drowned in the Saturday deluge, over 250 people of Jharkhand are estimated to have got stuck there, and their family members have failed to trace them.
As many as 16 people of same locality at Bariatu in Ranchi have also gone traceless after the fateful Saturday night as they could not be contacted after that. When their relatives in Ranchi tried to trace them on the helpline numbers they got from the news channels, they received weird answers.
"As they could not be contacted on their mobile phones, we started calling on the helpline numbers being flashed on the TV channels. First they asked us to hang on several times and finally said that we should call on the Jharkhand helpline numbers," said Naveen Nayak, son of Madan Nayak and Prabha Devi who have also been stuck in the surge.
All the 16 persons are aged persons and their families here in Ranchi are keeping their fingers crossed till they hear from them."When they called us last on Saturday evening, they had said that they were moving towards Kedar Nath but have been stuck somewhere on the way due to rain," said Anoop whose parents have also gone missing since Monday.
Similarly, 18 people of Masipidhi village in Hazaribagh, who had gone on a pilgrimage on May 27 on a bus are said to be stranded in Gaurikund without food and shelter. According to a phone call received from them on Tuesday, no government support has reached to them. "One of them had called up and said that no one was there to take care of them. Neither is there any helpline number to register our names," said Shrikant Kumar.
According to Kumar, his parents were standing in queue on Saturday night when he last talked to them. Since then they have also gone missing. One of his cousins has been camping in Dehradun but he is having problem in tracing them.Senior journalist Subodh Mishra is also missing along with his wife in Kedarnath. Mishra was on a pilgrimage with his relatives who also got injured in the flood. According to a close friend in Patna, Mishra's body has been recovered. Mishra, son of former Vice Chancellor of Birsa Agricultural University was presently serving as Director of Public Relations at Odisha Technical University.