BJP asks U'khand Guv to direct govt to speed up relief ops

BJP today asked Governor Krishna Kant Paul to direct the Congress government in the state to speed up relief operations in the affected areas, claiming that the disaster-hit Pithoragarh and Chamoli districts of Uttarakhand were still reeling under miserable conditions.
A BJP delegation led by Pradesh president Ajay Bhatt, met the Governor and handed him a memorandum accusing Harish Rawat government of not handling the relief operations in affected areas "seriously" causing umpteen hardships to residents of the villages hit by a series of cloudbursts and heavy rains on July 1 which claimed 21 lives and left 11 missing.
Bhatt who has just returned from a tour of the affected areas along with former Chief Minister Bhuvan Chandra Khanduri, state BJP president Bishan Singh Chufal and party spokesman Munna Singh Chauhan said the kin of people still missing should be paid compensation in the manner families of those left missing in Kedarnath tragedy were compensated.

Speaking of their visit to Ghat area of Chamoli and the worst-hit Bastadi village in Pithoragarh district, the BJP leaders said the conditions were still very bad despite over a week since the crisis and demanded that the affected villages be rehabilitated immediately besides restoration of water and electricity supply and nearly 350 breached roads to traffic.
Asking the state government to submit its estimate of the extent of damage to the Centre soon, the memorandum said early submission of the estimate of losses will help the Centre provide more funds for relief and rehabilitation work in the affected areas.