Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti, Wednesday visited the fire-sufferers of far-off Sukhnai village in Warwan area of district Kishtwar and announced various relief measures for the rehabilitation and welfare of the victims. She also took stock of the extensive damage caused by the devastating blaze in this remote area.Deputy Chief Minister, Nirmal Kumar Singh, Minister for Revenue, Relief & Rehabilitation, Syed Basharat Bukhari, Minister of State for Transport, Revenue, Public Works, Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, Agriculture Production and YSS, Sunil Kumar Sharma and MLC Firdous Tak accompanied the Chief Minister on her visit to the area.As many as 126 families have been affected due to the Saturday night blaze in which 80 residential houses and an equal number of cow sheds and other structures including shops, middle school, Masjid, Anganwari Centres, Sub-Centre and over 400 cattle and sheep perished.During her visit, the Chief Minister assured the affected villagers of all possible support from the Government for their welfare and rehabilitation.
The Chief Minister announced various relief measures including free ration to every family for a period of 6 months, Rs 9450000 under IAY (Rs 75000 per household) in favour of all 126 affected families for reconstruction of individual houses, and 3 months rental for accommodation during the winter months at the rate of Rs 3000 per month per affected family.The Chief Minister also announced Rs 1.25 crore as relief under SDRF for the affected families, comprising Rs 101900 per house in hilly area including damaged houses, Rs 1800 per family for loss of clothing, Rs 2000 per family for loss of utensils/ household goods, Rs 30,000 per Cow/Buffalo or any other milch animal, Rs 3000 per sheep/goat, Rs 25000 per horse/bullock, Rs 16000 for calf/donkey/mule and Rs 50 per poultry bird upto maximum of Rs 5000.During the visit, the Chief Minister also directed the district administration to provide Smokeless Chullahs and Solar Powered Lanterns to the affected families.Pertinently, Rs 4000 per family out of Red Cross, tents, kitchen sets, ration kits and quilts have already been provided as immediate relief to the affected families.