Despite Sushil Kumar Shinde’s plea, Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan visits Haridwar and Dehradun

NEW DELHI: Notwithstanding the plea by Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde that Chief Ministers should avoid visiting Uttarakhand for now, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Monday travelled to the flood-hit parts of the state.

Chavan said he visited Haridwar and Dehradun to oversee the operations being conducted by officials of Maharashtra to rescue the people from the state. 150 people from the state are said to be untraceable. He said close to 450 people out of the estimated 4,500 in Badrinath were from Maharashtra and a team of 49 state officers was coordinating rescue work for them from various places, including Dehradun, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Badrinath and Joshimath