Centre should declare Uttarakhand disaster-hit, give special package: Congress

Dehradun: Congress on Sunday accused the BJP of neglecting landslide- and flash flood-affected Uttarakhand and demanded that the Centre declare the entire state as disaster-hit and provide a special economic package for relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction work.

State Congress leader Suryakant Dhasmana stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who previously invoked the names of Kedarnath and Badrinath for electoral gains, has forgotten the state in this hour of crisis.

"He (Prime Minister) is either busy in Bihar elections or touring foreign countries, but till date he has neither taken care of the people of Uttarakhand who are facing terrible disasters nor has he sent any of his senior cabinet colleagues to Uttarakhand," the vice president (organisation) of Congress's state unit said at a press conference.

Dhasmana said that numerous areas in the state, including Dharali, Yamunotri and Pauri, have been affected by the disaster, resulting in massive casualties and extensive property damage in the region.

"In such a situation, the prime minister should declare the entire Uttarakhand as disaster-hit and send a central team to assess the loss of life and property here. He should announce a special economic package for relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction work," Dhasmana said.

The Congress leader also demanded that the central and state governments should together carry out relief and aid operations in the state.

Dhasmana said that during the 2013 Kedarnath disaster, the then Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh had immediately sent a central team to the disaster-affected area and given a financial package of Rs 21,000 crore for post-disaster rehabilitation.