7.57 am: Heavy rains to hit Uttarakhand again this week The met department has issued a warning again, predicting that heavy rains are likely to hit Uttarakhand towards the end of this week. The rains might be similar to the rainfall on June 16 in magnitude. According to a Times of India report: New Delhi’s regional meteorological centre has predicted that rain, ranging from 70-130mm a day, will hit parts of Uttarakhand from July 4-7. While this volume is lower than the over 300mm that fell on June 16-17, it is expected to add to the damage and hamper relief activities. Meanwhile, ISRO declared that they have done their best in helping the rescue operations in Uttarakhand. Defending its role in the rescue operations in the flood-ravaged Uttarakhand, ISRO today said the agency had played its role in the largest rescue operations in the country, saving thousands of lives. “We did our role in the rescue operations by providing imagery and equipment,” ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan told reporters here soon after the space agency launched India’s first dedicated navigation satellite IRNSS-1A on board the PSLV-C22, which blasted off at 11.41 PM from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre here last night. Replying to a query on the the space agency’s assistance during the relief operations, he said, “We have been taking and providing imagery of the affected areas as early as June 17 to the concerned agencies.” “We gave 12 satellite phones and other communication equipment for the use of the personnel, engaged in the relief operations. Over 1,000 calls have been made using them,” he said. ISRO was and still is in touch with the Uttarakhand government, Ministry of Home Affairs and the National Disaster Management Authority, he said. (With inputs from PTI) End of updates from 1 July 9.04 pm: More than 800 from UP still missing A total of 817 people from Uttar Pradesh, who went to Uttarakhand before flash floods lashed the hill state, are reportedly still missing. “According to the reports collected from all districts of the state, 817 people who had gone there have not yet returned nor contacted their people back home” said Relief Commissioner, Venkateshwarlu. The exact number of people who had gone there is being collected, he said, adding the list of the missing persons is constantly being updated on the basis of the complaints being lodged by the relatives and friends of the missing persons. According to the government, 32 bodies have been recovered so far from the rivers flowing into UP which are believed to have floated down from the hill state. “A cell has also been set up in the home department for collecting and streamlining the information about the missing people in Uttarakhand so as to avoid repetition and leaving out of any names,” said UP Home Secretary, Kamal Saxena. According to home department, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has issued guidelines pertaining to the disposal of the dead bodies including 100 per cent photography and keeping them in body bags. The NDMA has directed for keeping the bodies as long as possible and conducting DNA tests, sources said, adding names of the labs for conducting these tests have also been suggested. The last rites of the unclaimed bodies, if required, shall be conducted with full respect and proper manner and its full expense would be borne by the state government, according to the NDMA. “Government order sanctioning Rs 3,500 for the disposal of each body has already been issue,” said Saxena. Giving details of the UP government’s role in the relief and rescue operations, Saxena said camps have been set up at Jollygrant, Haridwar, Dehradun among others and 450 Roadways buses were ferrying people free to their destinations. “Some 1.25 lakh people have already been ferried by the state roadways buses”, he said, adding that on the request of the Uttarakhand government, officers and employees have also been made available besides a team of doctors. PTI
Posted on: Tue, 02 Jul 2013 06:37:34 +0000
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