Cabinet secy chairs high-level meet; reviews flood situation in HP, Pb, Hry, U'khand, Delhi

Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha on Tuesday chaired a high-level meeting of top officials and reviewed the prevailing flood situation in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Delhi, according to an official statement.

Sinha directed the officials that immediate assistance, as sought by the states, be provided to meet the crisis, it said.

The cabinet secretary, during the meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC), took stock of the current situation, preparedness, rescue and relief operations, it said.

As of now, 28 teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are deployed in these states and resources from the Army and the Air Force, have been pressed into service, the statement said, adding that additional teams are also on standby for any exigency.

Sinha also directed the officials to make available necessary financial assistance from the State Disaster Response Fund to the affected states, it added.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) stated that while there has been very heavy rainfall in these states over the past few days, the intensity is likely to decline in the coming days.

Senior officials of the ministries of home and defence, as well as those from the NDRF, NDMA and Central Water Commission, attended the meeting. Chief secretaries and other senior officials from the state governments also participated in the meeting through video conference.

Rains in the northern states have claimed at least 38 lives and triggered landslides, leaving hundreds of people in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh stranded and several areas in Punjab and Haryana flooded.

In Delhi, the Yamuna river continued to swell on Tuesday and was flowing above the danger level, an official said. On Monday, the river breached the danger mark of 205.33 metres.

More than 10,000 people living in low-lying areas along the Yamuna were evacuated by government agencies as the river breached the danger mark.

In Punjab and Haryana, no fresh spell of rainfall was reported on Tuesday morning, though a flood-like situation prevailed in many parts of both the states after heavy rains over the past few days.