Uttarakhand government extends jobs to kin of flash flood victims

DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand government has announced jobs for the next of kin of each victim from the state killed in the flash flood tragedy of last year along with additional assistance of Rs 2 lakh each for the affected families.

The announcement was made yesterday on behalf of Chief Minister Harish Rawat by his media in-charge Surendra Kumar on the first anniversary of the natural disaster of June last year in the hill state whose magnitude had shaken the whole nation. Rawat is convalescing at a Delhi hospital following a minor neck injury sustained during a flight.

The chief minister has also decided to name the new secretariat building proposed at Gairsain and its different wings after the villages affected in the calamity, Kumar added.

Hundreds of people had been killed and over 4,000 were left missing after the June 16 calamity last year who were later presumed dead. Of the total casualties, 846 were from Uttarakhand.

Immediately after the tragedy, financial aid of Rs 5 lakh was announced by the state government for those killed and missing in the flash floods.