Modi Government Committed to Rehabilitation of Jammu and Kashmir Flood Victims: Amit Shah

Jammu, September 1 (Kiran News): Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said that the Narendra Modi government is committed to ensuring the rehabilitation of those affected by the recent floods in Jammu and Kashmir. Shah visited the most affected areas in the region.

Shah toured Mangu Chak village near Jammu Airport, accompanied by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Leader of Opposition in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Sunil Sharma, and other senior BJP leaders including J&K BJP chief Sat Sharma.

The Home Minister had arrived in Jammu on Sunday night to assess the flood situation and review the relief efforts.

After meeting visitors at Raj Bhavan, Shah left for Mangu Chak, one of the most severely affected villages, to directly assess the situation. Officials stated that he interacted with local residents and assured them of proper relief and rehabilitation.

In a post on X, Shah wrote that he visited Chak Mangu (Mangu Chak) village in Jammu, which was recently hit by floods. He noted that disaster response teams are actively carrying out relief and rescue operations and providing medical assistance to those affected. The Modi government is committed to taking adequate steps for the rehabilitation of flood-affected people.

Earlier, the Home Minister stopped at Tawi Bridge near Bikram Chowk to inspect the damage along the riverbank. Jammu Divisional Commissioner Ramesh Kumar and other senior officials briefed him about the situation.

Bhan Singh, a resident of Mangu Chak, told reporters that the Home Minister visited his house and assured him of relief. He added that after last week’s floods, nothing was left in his home.

Another resident, Chayan Das, said he felt fortunate to have survived the flood that submerged the entire village. He expressed gratitude for the Home Minister’s visit and hoped authorities would drain the water and take measures to prevent such floods in the future.

After his visit, Shah returned to Raj Bhavan and chaired three consecutive meetings on the floods and relief efforts with Lieutenant Governor Sinha, Omar Abdullah, Sunil Sharma, Director General of Police (DGP) Nalin Prabhat, and several officials from the central and union territory administration.

Officials said Shah also held another meeting attended by senior officials from the Army, police, paramilitary forces, and intelligence agencies. The meeting discussed the border security grid, which was affected by the sudden floods, and the current security situation. He also met with BJP legislators.

Since August 14, over 130 people have died and 33 are missing due to cloudbursts, landslides, and flash floods in Kishtwar, Kathua, Reasi, and Ramban districts of Jammu and Kashmir.

Among the deceased are 34 pilgrims who were caught in a landslide on August 26 while heading to the Vaishno Devi temple.

On August 26-27, record rainfall triggered flash floods in Jammu and other low-lying plains, causing heavy damage to infrastructure.

This was the Home Minister’s second visit to Jammu in three months. He previously visited the district on May 29. About three weeks ago, the armed forces conducted strikes across the border against terrorist infrastructures in response to the Pahalgam attack on April 22, in which terrorists killed 26 people, mostly tourists.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had also visited Jammu on August 24 to assess the situation following a cloudburst and flash flood in Chisoti village of Kishtwar district.

Singh’s plan to visit another devastated village en route to Machail Mata temple was cancelled due to bad weather and fresh landslides in the Paddar sub-division that blocked the road.

On August 14, a flash flood in Chasoti claimed 65 lives, most of them pilgrims, left over 100 injured, and 32 missing.