CII forms special task force for J&K relief & rehabilitation work

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has formed a special task force for providing relief and rehabilitation to the flood-affected residents of Jammu and Kashmir.

"The recent natural calamity affecting thousands of people in Jammu & Kashmir is very unfortunate. CII stands by the distressed and is committed to provide all possible support. We have formed a special task force to work out relief measures for the victims in the flood-devastated state in co-ordination with the district administration," said Chandrajit Banerjee , director general, CII.

"CII and its membership have always worked pro-actively for relief and sustainable rehabilitation at the time of crises such as the tsunami in Tamil Nadu, earthquake in Bhuj, cloud burst disasters in Leh, Uttarakhand, among others. After coordinating with the various government agencies, army and local authorities in Jammu & Kashmir, an interim assessment of the situation has been done and we have shared the urgent essential requirements with CII membership, requesting them to contribute generously," Banerjee added.

The CII has tied up with the Indian Army's Western Command, headquartered at Chandimandir near here, to dispatch sustainable relief material to Srinagar.

On Thursday afternoon, the army air-lifted relief material including commodities of utmost requirement to Srinagar from 3 BRD Air force Station here. The relief material consisted of 4,200 torches with batteries, 20 water purifiers, 4,800 Maggie Noodles packs, 2400 juice bottles, 2,100 packs of 100 gm Glucon-D, 10,000 Glucose Biscuits, 5,400 water bottles, 14 cartons of medicines, 800 blankets and toiletries.

"In addition, CII has also dispatched a thousand kits comprising of food items, soaps, medicines (Paracetamol and Antacid), candles, salt, drinking water, matchboxes, milk powder, toiletries and torches etc. from Jammu , the distribution of which would be done by the local administration," said the CII director general.

"CII's relief work will be carried out in two phases. In the first phase, we have studied the urgent requirements, and are distributing the most necessary items like food items, medicines, water purifiers, dry rations, utility items, toiletries, tents, packaged drinking water etc. The second phase would comprise rehabilitation work under the aegis of the CII Foundation. The detailed plans for the same would be worked out once the government's on-ground assessment of the damage is over. The CII plans would be aligned with the state government's rehabilitation plan," said Zubin Irani , Chairman, CII Northern Region and President, Building & Industrial Systems (India), United Technologies Corporation.