'Priority on saving lives': Dhami reviews Uttarakhand flash flood situation

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami who was on a visit to Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday returned to Dehradun over the flash floods in Uttarkashi, and held a meeting with senior officials at the State Emergency Operation Centre here to review the situation.

He directed relief and rescue operations to be carried out on a war footing. ''Our priority as of now is to save lives,'' Dhami said.

A cloudburst led to flash floods in the high altitude villages of Dharali in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi district on Tuesday with several houses being damaged or swept away in the raging waters. The local administration has said at least four people have died.

Dhami said 130 people trapped in the affected areas have been taken to safe locations. ''SDRF, NDRF, Army and ITBP teams are on the spot, '' he told reporters here.

All educational institutions in Dharali and Harshil have been closed and only emergency services have been kept operational.

Instructions have been given to make immediate arrangements for food, accommodation and medicines for the affected people, he said.

Additional helicopters are being sought from the Army to pace up rescue operations, he said. ''Life of every person is precious for the government,'' he said.

The chief minister asked officials concerned to restore the disrupted communication lines in the affected area on Tuesday night itself so that the affected people could be contacted.

Arrangements for accommodation, food and medicines in hotels, homestays etc. should be made after immediate rescue of the affected people in Dharali and Harshil area, he said.

Dhami instructed senior military officials to make arrangements to open the lake being formed in Harshil area as soon as possible.

The CM has instructed to use the Indian Air Force's MI-17 to airlift the affected and send immediate food, medicines and clothes etc. He directed that good alternative arrangements should be made for the stay of those who have become homeless. If hotels have to be acquired, then it should be done immediately, he said.

Dhami said availability of beds, blankets and clothes should be ensured. Food packets should be airdropped.

On his instructions, three IAS officers, including Additional Secretary Meherban Singh Bisht and Abhishek Rohilla and Gaurav Kumar -- who have served as district magistrates in Uttarkashi -- were made nodal officers for the rescue efforts underway in the affected areas.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)