In a benevolent gesture, the Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal today flagged off the first consignment of relief material including 100 tonne of rice, 20 tonne of atta, 18 tonne sugar, 75 tonne milk powder besides 15000 blankets and 14000 woolen clothes in 24 trucks for the flood victims in Uttrakhand. Talking to the media persons on the sidelines of the flagging ceremony here at Dusshera ground, Mr. Badal said that he had recently called on Uttrakhand Chief Minister Mr. Vijay Bahuguna to ascertain their requirement of relief material for the flood victims in this hour of crisis. Mr. Badal said that the state government was committed to provide succor to the people of Uttrakhand, who had been rendered homeless due to recent flash floods in the valley thereby keeping alive the traditions of Punjab’s bonhomie to help the needy in difficult times.Mr. Badal reiterated that the state government would further dispatch consignments of 1000 tonne of rice, 500 tonne of atta, 80 tonne of sugar besides 10000 blankets and woolen clothes each, as and when required by the Uttrakhand government due to lack of adequate storage facility there. He said that the state government had already announced a grant of Rs.10 crore for the reconstruction of Sri Kedarnath Temple and the damaged infrastructure at Gobindghat. Describing the devastating flash floods in Uttrakhand as national tragedy, the Chief Minister expressed his complete solidarity with the people of Uttrakhand adding he said that the Punjab government has deputed several senior Civil and Police officers/officials besides deploying a fleet of nearly 300 buses/ small vehicles for the timely evacuation of people standard in the valley.
He highly appreciated the superb work done in carrying out relief and rehabilitation operations by the teams sent from Punjab. The Chief Minister further said that he would soon call on the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to hand over the state’s contribution towards the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF).Replying to a query regarding the missing persons from Punjab in Uttrakhand, the Chief Minister said that Mr. Bahuguna had given us a list of 26 persons who had gone missing, when he called on him at Dehradun last week adding that efforts were afoot to trace those persons/establish their whereabouts with the help of Uttrakhand government. It may be recalled that the convoy of 24 trucks which left for Uttrakhand were escorted by two police vehicles besides two officials of Food & Civil Supplies department, who would hand over the atta and rice to the concerned authorities at Rishikesh and other items at Dehradun.
Referring to the power scenario in the state, Mr. Badal said that with the allocation of major coal block to the state, we were optimistic that most of the units of upcoming thermal plants across the state would become operational and the civil work on 1320 MW Mukerian thermal plant to be executed by the PSPCL would also begin soon. The Chief Minister was accompanied by Food & Civil Supplies Minister Mr. Adesh Partap Singh Karion and his Principal Secretary Mr. SK Sandhu. Others who were present on the occasion included Financial Commissioner Revenue Mr. NS Kang, Principal Secretary Coordination Mr. Sanjay Kumar besides the senior officers of civil and police administration of Mohali district.