Over 2,000 UP residents missing in Kashmir floods

State govt says in touch with J&K authorities

The whereabouts of more than 2,000 people from Uttar Pradesh in the flood-ravaged Jammu and Kashmir are still not know, officials said Tuesday.

A total 2,091 people have been registered as missing by their relatives and families so far. Out of these, the maximum are from Pilibhit from where 484 people had gone to the hill state for different reasons and are now missing after the floods hit the state last week, officials said.

Secretary (Home) Kamal Saxena told IANS that the state government was coordinating with the authorities in Jammu and Kashmir to ascertain the whereabouts of the missing Uttar Pradesh residents.

"We have been approached by several families with the names of the missing ones... ," he said.

Among those missing in Jammu and Kashmir floods are 395 residents from Moradabad, 312 from Rampur, 141 from Shamli, 135 from Bareilly, 53 from Kushingar, 35 from Firozabad and 20 from Baghpat, besides others.

There are also over 500 people from other districts who are missing in the hill state and there has been no information from them for the last four days.

While some had gone to Jammu and Kashmir for employment, some for small-time selling of bed sheets, shawls and bangles, and many others had gone on vacation.