Congress president Sonia Gandhi is on a tour of flood and cloudburst-hit areas of Uttarakhand, where 60 people have died and thousands rendered homeless in the past few days.
Accompanied by Defence Minister A.K. Antony and senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh, Ms. Gandhi arrived at Joly Grant Airport near here and took a helicopter to fly to the affected areas in Haridwar, Tehri and Kumaon.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank had on Monday made an aerial survey of parts of the State hit by floods, landslides and cloudbursts and announced a relief of Rs. 1 lakh to the next of kin of those killed in the natural calamity.
Mr. Nishank had visited areas like Tehri, Haridwar, Nainital and Almora to asses the loss of lives and property.
At least 60 people have died and thousands rendered homeless due to incessant rains and floods during the past few days in the hill state. Mr. Nishank said a total of 412 families in 25 villages have been affected in Tehri and Uttarkashi districts by the rising waters of Tehri dam. He said over 8,000 people have been evacuated to safer areas due to floods in the state. He also demanded a package of Rs. 5,000 crore from the Centre to tackle the situation, an official statement said.
