J&K flood: Army continues relief operations

The Army has pressed into effect in the past 96 hours, 17 fully equipped columns of soldiers to evacuate civilians, repair and reconstruct roads, render first aid within the intervening night of Thursday and till this report came in.

In specific incidents the proactive columns of the Army have been able to rescue around 300 civilians from Mandi, Saujiyan, Doda and Bamwat.

In the area of Akhnoor, Chenab has swelled and is flowing to unprecedented levels and the Air Force and Army in Akhnoor in combined rescue operations have been able to save around 65 lives while 15 are getting evacuated.

The Chenab is flowing at 43.5 ft creating criticality into the strategic connectivity to Pir Panjal.

Around 200 lives were saved in the areas of Manyarwala, Sankari, Dalogra and Nazian by CIF \'R\'. The 18 columns of Army working in Areas around Banihal and Navapanchchi have been able to save around 220 civilians from the onslaught of Bichlari Nala and Warwana Nala.

The Army columns are working round the clock in Areas of Kandoli Nala, Dhari in Rajouri and Poonch, in Khour, Channi, Sitrila, Mawa Korora and Chak Sikinda near Akhnoor where around 200 civilians are reportedly stranded. In the area of Thanamandi Army columns are active in Langiot, Bigali, Tangri and old Thana Mandi rescuing people.

The Army\'s BRTF is working concurrently all out with its specialised equipment including JCBs, Dozers and excavators to open the NH 44 which has been closed for civil traffic. While connectivity between Akhnoor and Naoshera is open to traffic, work on road Naoshera-Rajouri is still on which is likely to be opened soon.

Earlier in the day, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh asked the Jammu and Kashmir State Government to identify suitable land for the rehabilitation of Kashmiri migrants.

In a letter addressed to the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah regarding implementation of the rehabilitation scheme, Home Minister suggested that land may be identified near the native places they migrated from.

He also advised that such areas should be selected keeping in view the availability of adequate security in close proximity of the place.

According to government statistics, at present there are about 62,000 registered Kashmiri migrant families in the country, who migrated from the Kashmir Valley to Jammu, Delhi and other parts of the country due to onset of militancy in the state of J&K in early 1990s.

Rajnath Singh mentioned that the Union Government is committed to facilitate the return of the Kashmiri migrants to the Kashmir Valley and their proper rehabilitation.

A sum of Rupees 500 crore has been earmarked in the Union Budget 2014-15 for this purpose, the Home Minister added.