Dehradun: Chief Secretary Anand Bardhan reviewed relief and rehabilitation works for disaster affected areas in the state, especially for Dharali disaster affected people, at the Secretariat on Wednesday. The Chief Secretary inquired from the Secretary Disaster and Commissioner Garhwal about the updated status of relief and restoration works in Dharali.
The Chief Secretary has directed the Secretary Public Works Department and Secretary Irrigation to visit the affected area and immediately prepare an alternative route for the part of Gangotri National Highway submerged in the temporary lake. He said that other footpaths and alternative routes should also be repaired for the affected area. He has also directed to continue the search operations and speed up the search operations by using the latest technology. He said that proper arrangements for accommodation and food should be ensured for the disaster affected people.
The Chief Secretary said that due to the obstruction of the main road, the fruit and vegetable producers in the affected area as well as the entire area beyond it have faced the problem of market for their products. He directed the Secretary Agriculture to ensure the purchase of products in the affected areas by Uttarakhand Horticulture Board and Mandi Parishad. Also, the market cell of GMVN and KMVN should also be activated to provide market. He also ensured that cold storage arrangements should be made in these areas.
The Chief Secretary said that there is also a need to work towards the livelihood of the affected. He said that an action plan should be prepared to help the affected people in their livelihood with various schemes like Apple Mission, Kiwi Mission and Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali Swarojgar Yojana, Home Stay. He has also directed to distribute compensation related to livestock loss in the disaster immediately.
The Chief Secretary has directed to immediately prepare prefab buildings for schools, hospitals and Anganwadi centers in the affected area. He said that people’s certificates and other necessary documents would also have been destroyed due to the disaster. For this, certificates should be made available immediately by setting up multipurpose camps.
The Chief Secretary has also directed to start the process of certification of civil death for the missing people soon. He said that the prescribed process of certification of civil death should be started soon for foreign missing persons (labourers of Nepali origin and foreign tourists). He directed that the latest technology and satellite imagery should be used to assess property damage compensation. For this, quick assessment should be done with the help of UCOST.
The Chief Secretary said that all the studies and collected data done by USDMA in the past years should also be analysed and used. He has directed DG UCOST to prepare a module to assess the possible danger from all the glaciers and glacier lakes of the state and the moraine and boulders etc. on their way. For this, he has also directed to prepare a team by including all the scientific organisations related to it.
On this occasion, Secretary Shailesh Bagoli, Dr. Pankaj Kumar Pandey, Kumaon Commissioner Deepak Rawat, Garhwal Commissioner Vinay Shankar Pandey, Secretary Dr. Surendra Narayan Pandey, Vinod Kumar Suman, Jugal Kishore Pant, Additional Secretary Dr. Ahmed Iqbal, Anand Swaroop, Ashish Chauhan and Himanshu Khurana along with other senior officers were present.
