Jammu: Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a high-level meeting in Jammu on Sunday to assess the rescue work and the damage that has been caused due to the massive floods in the state.Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and other top officials attended the meeting and briefed the PM about the devastation caused by the floods which have claimed116 lives so far.
As many as130 Army columns, eight battalions of the NDRF, besides the entire Indian AirForce transport fleet has been deployed for rescue operations in the flood-hitstate.
A total of850 personnel have been airlifted so far in the flood affected regions of the state. A C-17 Globe master aircraft has been launched from Delhi to Awantipur with Rapid Action Medical Team (RAMT) and two IL 76 aircraft with medical supplies and boats have taken off from Palam Air Force Base for Srinagar.Another IL-76 with teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel has also taken off from Delhi for Srinagar.
Three C-130JSuper Hercules special operations aircraft have been pressed into service to transport boats from Pune and Gandhi nagar to Srinagar and blankets and tents from Kanpur to the state. A total of twelve AN-32, four IL-76, five C-130J and two C-17 transport aircraft of the IAF have been pressed into operations.Twenty six helicopters of the IAF are also operating in the region.
Meanwhile,water levels have receded in the Tawi river in Jammu but Kashmir continues to be under a red alert after the embankments of River Jhelum were breached at many places due to rise in water level, submerging areas like Badami bagh, Sonawar, Rajbagh, Kursu, Natipora, Nowgam and old Barzulla. Water has also seeped into important installations like Civil Secretariat and High Court in the heart of the city.
Access to main hospitals like SMHS and Lalla Ded has been cut off due to the flooding of the roads. Nearly 300 patients are stranded at the GB Pant hospital.
During the meeting with the PM, Omar sought more rescue-related initiatives, including commencement of air rescue operations in view of grim situation in the state.The PM is accompanied by Minister of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh and Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag.
The PM is scheduled to undertake an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas in Jammu zone.He will later fly to Srinagar for an assessment of the damaged caused by the floods. Prime Minister's visit comes after meeting Home Minister Rajnath Singh who visited the flood-affected regions on Saturday.
Thousands of people from water-logged areas have been moved to safer places but many people have been trapped in upper stories of their homes in low-lying areas of the city, the officials said. Communication system has been disrupted with all almost all private cellular networks out of order. The landline telephone network has also been badly affected.
"We are not able to get information from areas which have been cut off by flood water.Exact extent of deaths and destruction over the past 24 hours is not known," an official in the Police Control Room said. Electricity and water supply has remained disrupted in affected areas for the past six days now.
(IBN)