Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday visited the flood-hit Chashoti village in Kishtwar to take firsthand stock of the devastation caused by the recent cloudburst.
Upon his arrival, he was briefed by Indian Army personnel and used a virtual reality headset to assess the scale of destruction.
The Chief Minister, who reached Kishtwar on Friday evening, travelled by road to the affected village on Saturday morning.
He was accompanied by his Advisor Nasir Aslam Wani, Chairman District Development Council Pooja Thakur, MLA Inderwal Pyarelal Sharma, MLA Ramban Arjun Singh Raju, former minister Sajjad Ahmad Kitchloo, besides Divisional Commissioner Jammu, Inspector General of Police Jammu, Deputy Commissioner Kishtwar, SSP Kishtwar, and other senior civil and police officers.
Expressing profound sorrow over the tragic loss of lives and widespread damage, the Chief Minister assured the people that the Government stands firmly with them in this hour of grief.
As a measure of solidarity and immediate relief, the Chief Minister announced ex-gratia assistance from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.
He said the families of those who lost their lives would receive financial support of ₹2 lakh each, while those who sustained severe injuries would be given ₹1 lakh and those with minor injuries ₹50,000. Similarly, for structural damages, he announced ₹1 lakh for fully damaged houses, ₹50,000 for severely damaged ones, and ₹25,000 for partially damaged structures.
He also issued directions for the immediate restoration of essential infrastructure in the affected areas.
During the visit, the Chief Minister met the bereaved families and those affected by the tragedy, prayed for the departed souls, and assured the people that his Government will extend not only immediate assistance but also long-term rehabilitation to help them rebuild their lives.
On shifting of cloudburst affected families, he said, “there has been a demand of shifting them from the present locations, but for that team of experts need to be consulted looking into all preventive measures needed to be taken.”
“I can understand the feelings of the affected families as the whereabouts of many of their missing loved ones are still unknown. They want them to be traced, either alive or dead,” he said.
On recent incidents of cloudburst in mountainous parts, the Chief Minister said that hilly areas like J&K, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand are prone to cloudbursts, and experts are needed to be consulted to take elaborate arrangements so that such tragedies can be prevented.