Government working with all resources to rebuild Uttarakhand: Prime Minister

NEW DELHI: Expressing anguish over the Uttarakhand floods disaster, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the government is working with all resources under its command to rehabilitate people and rebuild the damaged infrastructure in the hill state.

"On this celebration of independence, we also feel pain in our hearts that our brothers and sisters in Uttarakhand had to face devastation about two months back. Our deepest sympathies are with all the families that suffered loss of life or property.

"I want to assure the people of Uttarakhand today that the whole country stands with them in this moment of crisis. Our government is working with all the resources at its command to rehabilitate those whose houses have been destroyed and rebuild damaged infrastructure," he said in his 10th consecutive Independence Day speech.

Singh also paid homage to the personnel of the ITBP, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Air Force who lost their lives in the rescue operations.

"Our Army, paramilitary forces and numerous officers and staff of the central and state governments worked in difficult conditions in partnership with the common people to perform an outstanding task in providing relief to those who were stranded," he said.

Twenty personnel of IAF, ITBP and NDRF were killed on June 25 in a crash involving a Mi-17V5 chopper near Kedarnath area while coming back from a rescue mission from the 8th century temple complex.

Uttarakhand was devastated by the heavy rains and flash floods that hit on June 16 and the armed forces were deployed in large numbers for rescue and relief operations. The state suffered extensive damage to its infrastructure.