BJP demands white paper on damage caused by cloudburst

BJP also boycotted an all-party meeting convened by Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna to discuss relief measures to be adopted in the calamity-hit areas, accusing the state government of being insensitive to the plight of affected people.

"It is a month since the calamity occurred, leaving a trail of death and destruction, a large number of villages washed away and thousands rendered homeless. The meeting was called a bit too late and there is no point in attending it," former chief minister and BJP leader Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank told reporters.

Lashing out at the government for being "callous" to the misery of the cloudburst-hit people, he said it must immediately come out with a white paper assessing the extent of damage caused by the calamity.

Government still does not know how much damage has been caused to public property and people in the incident, he alleged, adding ministers were going on foreign tours while people were suffering.

Pokhariayal also accused the ministers and state authorities of not properly touring the affected areas.

Claiming that BJP leaders including state unit chief Bishan Singh Chufal and Leader of Opposition in state Assembly Ajay Bhatt had toured the region, he said affected people are full of grievances against the government.

He also slammed the state government for having earlier proposed running loss making sugar mills of Uttarakhand on a PPP mode.

"The inaction of the government in the face of a crisis like this shows that the official machinery itself may have to be run on PPP mode," Pokhariayal said.