Britain keen to help flood-ravaged U'khand: British envoy

The United Kingdom today said it was keen on helping in the rebuilding efforts in flood-ravaged Uttarakhand and invest in education and tourism sectors in the hill state.
British High Commissioner to India Sir James Bevan, who met Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar today, said NGOs and financial institutions in the UK are keen to offer help in reconstruction endeavours underway in the flood-hit state, specially in the infrastructure sector.
Expressing the British government's desire to make a contribution in higher and technical education sectors, besides tourism development in the state, he said UK's Deputy High Commissioner will visit Uttarakhand next week to prepare a roadmap for the purpose.

British Universities are also willing to train teachers in Uttarakhand, specially on imparting education in the English language, he said.
Earlier, apprising the British High Commissioner of the steps taken by the state government in the wake of the June calamity, Kumar said a total of 1.5 lakh stranded pilgrims were evacuated from the high altitude areas out of which 39,000 were airlifted.
A total of 90 per cent of relief distribution exercise has been completed in a little over three months after the tragedy, he added.