Bihar to give Rs.5 crore aid to Uttarakhand, trace 300 missing

The Bihar government Thursday announced Rs.5 crore aid to Uttarakhand for relief and decided to send a team of officials to trace at least 300 people from the state still missing in the calamity-hit hill state, an official said.

Vayasji, principal secretary of disaster management department, said the state government will help to trace hundreds of missing people from the state in Uttarakhand.

"Bihar will provide Rs.5 crore aid to Uttarakhand," he added.

"Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has directed officials concerned to take immediate measures to help people from Bihar missing in Uttarakhand," said an official in the chief minister's office.

Former Bihar minister Ashwani Kumar Choubey's two relatives were killed while he survived the nature's fury at Kedarnath in Uttarakhand.

Choubey, along with his close relatives, a family priest and security personnel, was on a trip to Kedarnath when they were trapped in the landslides and strong currents of the Ganga river.

According to his personal staff, his close relative Subodh Mishra and his wife Rubi Mishra were killed in landslides.

Choubey and his other family members were air-lifted by helicopters and brought to Dehradun first and then to Delhi, a relative of Choubeys said here Thursday.

"Choubey's three security personnel, his priest and a relative are still missing. There is no information about them," an official said.

The reports reaching here from different parts of the state suggest that more than 300 people are missing there.

Thousands are said to be missing in Uttarakhand after unprecedented rains and cloudburst led to landslides and flash floods. More than 100 people were killed and 62,000 have been stranded.