The inter-ministerial central team led by Ministry of Home Affairs joint secretary Sanjeen Kumar Jindal met chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat after inspecting the disaster affected areas in Uttarkashi and Chamoli districts.

Rawat said that there should be relaxation in standards for natural disasters in mountainous areas. Similarly, financial assistance for affected mountainous regions should also be raised considering the geographical conditions to facilitate more effective help for the disaster affected people. He said that the Defence ministry provided special cooperation to airlift the affected people by helicopter. Using its financial resources, the State government has also made all attempts to provide relief to the disaster victims. With the help of the Centre, the State Government has made all efforts to reconstruct roads, electricity and drinking water schemes while providing relief to the victims. However, considering the extent of damage caused by disaster, more financial assistance is required for restoration of basic facilities, said the chief minister.

Head of the central team, Jindal said that the team had toured the disaster affected districts, inspected the damage caused and collected relevant information. The team will soon submit its report to the Central Government, he said.

Earlier, the seven-member inter-ministerial central team headed by Jindal toured the State’s disaster affected areas and then held a meeting with the State’s chief secretary Utpal Kumar Singh and other senior officials.

Uttarakhand’s disaster management secretary Amit Singh Negi said that the state government had taken various steps to mitigate disaster risk. He informed the central team members about the various steps taken by the state government so far for disaster risk reduction. The disaster management secretary in-charge SA Murugesan informed the central team that during the monsoon in 20019 so far, 59 persons had died, 57 had been injured and four were missing. Further, 92 large cattle and 319 small domesticated animals had also been killed. There had been extensive damage to homes, government buildings, roads and bridges in the disaster affected areas, he informed. Under all the departments, a loss of Rs 221.95 crore has been estimated so far this year during the monsoon season.