U'khand calamity claimed over 4,300 lives, says govt

A total of 4,364 people lost their lives during the recent rainfall and flash floods in Uttarakhand, the government told Parliament today.
"As per the information received from the government of Uttarakhand, 4,364 people have lost their lives due to the natural disaster caused by heavy rainfall, cloudbursts, flash floods and landslides in June 2013 in Uttarakhand.
"This includes 4,119 missing persons, who are feared to be no more. These figures are provisional, as the verification process is still on," Minister of State for Home M Ramachandran said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.
"The state government has informed that road connectivity has been restored in the disaster affected areas, electricity and drinking water supply have also been restored," he said.

Ramachandran also said the state government has prepared a housing policy for disaster-hit families.
"The process of reconstruction of houses is on," he said.
"The state government has provided Rs 150.13 crore to the disaster-hit families under various heads of relief/ex-gratia. Apart from this, Rs 77.28 crore has been provided to the next of kin of the missing persons, who belong to states other than Uttarakhand," he said.