Another fortnight to evacuate flood victims: Vijay Bahuguna

Rescue teams will take another fortnight to evacuate flood victims as the roads leading to affected areas have been badly damaged, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has said.

He said, "Those who are stuck in certain areas in Uttarakhand, there is no threat to their lives."

Bahuguna also said, "It's very tragic that so many people have died in this calamity. It will take a long time to rebuild Uttarakhand," adding that the holy town of Kedarnath has suffered the worst.

Meanwhile, Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Girija Vyas has assured full support to flood-hit Uttarakhand for dealing with the crisis situation.

Vyas has assured that her Ministry will extend full support to Uttarakhand for providing livelihood to the displaced people under the Scheme of Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY).

She further stated that necessary financial help would also be provided for reconstruction of houses in the urban areas/towns through its flagship programme "Rajiv Awas Yojana" (RAY).

Further the Ministry has also decided that minimum of one-day's salary will be given by the Ministerial staff including its attached office, PSUs etc as a donation towards Uttarakhand Relief Fund in this hour of crisis.