Uma Bharti announces countrywide tree plantation drive to remember Kedarnath deluge

NEW DELHI: Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti today announced a nationwide tree plantation drive would be organised to mark the first anniversary of Kedarnath deluge during the flash floods which had hit Uttarakhand last year.

She told reporters here that the drive will be held in Gangotri, Haridwar, Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, Nabadwip and Ganga Sagar (both in West Bengal) and New Delhi.

The Minister said the Central Water Commission has been instructed to provide warnings about the increase in water level of lakes of more than 50 hectares in size and located on high altitude.

The Commission will pass on these information to the concerned states, she added.

Bharti also said her ministry will take up the repair of embankments of rivers, which were damaged during the tragedy, under Flood Management Plan in cooperation with the ministries of environment and tourism.