100,000 food packets needed in Kashmir daily for next 5 days: Minister

There is an urgent need to ensure daily supply of 100,000 food packets for next three to five days for the flood-affected people of Jammu and Kashmir, said Minister in the PMO Jitendra Singh.

As many as 30,000 personnel were involved in the rescue operation and have rescued as many as 133,000 people so far, he said here.

Singh, who is an MP from the state, had come to Jammu and Kashmir after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a review meeting in New Delhi Wednesday asked the home ministry to immediately depute senior officers from Delhi and other states to coordinate the relief operations with the local administration in Srinagar.

The minister said 31,500 food packets as well as 290,000 litres of drinking water have been given to the people, while at least 80 medical teams are operating in the state.

He said Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has demanded special chemicals to destroy animal carcasses in the state in order to avoid an epidemic-like situation.

On the present conditions, he said that water level has fallen rapidly in Jhelum river but still some problems persist.

Jammu and Kashmir is battling the worst floods in 60 years. While hundreds have been rendered homeless, the summer capital of Srinagar has been partially submerged under water. The toll is at least 200 but feared to rise further.