JKNPP demands immediate rescue of people affected by rains

Expressing concern over incessant rains, Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) today said the government should take all measures to rescue affected people in the state.
"We express grave concern over incessant rains which have wreaked havoc in the state and claimed several lives, besides causing colossal damage to property and standing crops," JKNPP chairman and MLA Harsh Dev Singh told reporters here.
Ten people have been killed and over 300 rescued from areas struck by flashfloods, which were triggered by heavy rains in Jammu region since August 14.
Making a special mention of Dudu Basantgarh, Ramnagar, Ghordi and Majalta tehsils of Udhampur district, Singh claimed more than 1,000 houses have collapsed in the rains, injuring dozens of people.

Collapsed houses have left several families homeless, but requisite steps have not been taken by the government to provide them shelter, he said.
Roads in the affected areas were badly damaged and posed difficulties in shifting the injured to nearby hospitals in Udhampur and Jammu, the JKNPP leader said, urging upon the state government to press helicopters into service to airlift the injured.
The Public Works Department (R&B) and district administration should deploy road clearance machinery to remove the rubble and ensure movement of vehicles so that relief materials are sent to the affected areas, Singh added.