Repeated disasters have a human touch

Uttarakhand Director General of Police (DGP) Ashok Kumar, who recently travelled extensively in the disaster-hit Kumaon region to oversee rescue operations after the floods, has given vital pieces of information.

He said a catastrophe was averted by the evacuation of the people from flood-ravaged areas.

We evacuated nearly 48,000 people from various flood-hit areas. Of them, nearly 50 per cent were living close to rivers and nullahs in spate, Kumar said.

According to a report prepared by the state police, the devastation could be minimized due to the timely alert the Met gave.

Our men, especially those serving in the State Disaster Response Force STATE immediately put SCAN said, Kumar.

More than 75 people were killed in the recent heavy rain and floods in the state in October. Environmentalists have linked these with the climate change phenomenon. There was the Kedarnath deluge in 2013, and then two major disasters followed this year. One of them, apart from the present one, is the February 7 Rishiganga floods in Chamoli district, where more than 200 people were killed.

A preliminary estimate suggests the property and infrastructure losses were worth 1900 crore in the form of damages to buildings, agriculture, and roads, and bridges said state Disaster Management Secretary SA Murugeshan.