Kishtwar, Aug 16 (KNO): Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday immediate relief has been disbursed among the affected families and the adequate teams have been deployed to conduct rescue operation in Kishtwar following the cloudburst tragedy.
Speaking to reporters after meeting the affected families, the Chief Minister, per news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) said he can understand the feelings of the affected families, they want their beloved to be traced either alive or dead.
"Immediate relief has been disbursed among the affected families. Chief Minister's relief fund will be utilised for them as well," he said.
He said the adequate teams, including NDRF, SDRF, Army, J&K Police and others have been deployed to conduct the rescue operation. “So far, the death count is around 60 and 70-80 are still missing. Reports quoting missing figures around 500 or 1000 are incorrect," he added.
He said there has been a demand of shifting the affected families from their locations, but they will consult a team of experts to ensure that they are not shifted to any place that will be more prone to such occurrences.
The Chief Minister said the hilly areas like J&K, Himachal Pradesh and Uttrakhand are prone to cloudbursts, and that they will consult a team of experts to take elaborate arrangements to prevent any such tragedies—(KNO)