Uttarakhand showed India's vulnerability: PM

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Friday that the flash floods and landslides in Uttarakhand which killed thousands have exposed India's vulnerability to natural disasters.

"The large-scale loss of life, property and public infrastructure due to rains and floods in Uttarakhand point not only to India's vulnerability to disasters but also to the need to take effective measures to prevent such disasters and contain their fall out when they occur," he said here.

Manmohan Singh was speaking at the ninth formation day of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) here.

He added that it was important to learn the right lessons from the Uttarakhand tragedy, which has also devastated the state's key pilgrimage centres.

The prime minister appreciated the role played by various agencies of the central and state governments as well as voluntary organisations and common people in rescue and relief operations in Uttarakhand.

"I also pay homage to those brave men and women from the Indian Air Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, National Disaster Response Force, civil administration, civilian air crew and the community at large who laid down their lives in trying to save others," he said.

He said that though the post-disaster phase of rescue and relief in Uttarakhand had been largely completed, the task of reconstruction, rehabilitation and restoration of livelihood was far from over.