Jammu and Kashmir floods: Gadkari to visit state to review situation

New Delhi: Rural Development Minister Nitin Gadkari will visit Jammu and Kashmir on Monday to review repair and rehabilitation operations concerning roads and drinking water in the flood ravaged areas in the state.

Gadkari, who also heads road transport and highways ministry, will arrive at Srinagar airport on Monday morning and then undertake aerial survey of severely affected areas in the state, an official statement said.

He will later hold a review meeting to assess the damage caused to the roads built under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) and discuss plans to rebuild the damaged road network, it said.

“The review meeting will be attended, among others, by senior officials from the Road Transport and Highways Ministry, Border Roads Organisation, Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana and the state government. Gadkari will also review the drinking water supply with the officials concerned,” it said.

He will also hold discussions with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and call on Governor NN Vohra.

The Centre has so far supplied more than four lakh 25 thousand litres of drinking water for the flood affected people and four water purification plants each with capacity of one lakh litres per day are already working at Rambag, Old Airport Base, Bemina and Rajbagh, the statement said.

Additional 20 water purification plants each with a capacity of 20,000 litres per day have been airlifted from Hyderabad to Srinagar and 12 of them have already been installed at Baramulla, Sopore, Mahjoornagar and Padshahibagh and four others at different hospitals.

The review comes in the wake of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s direction to all ministries to join in the rescue, relief and rehabilitation measures to help the state government in tiding over the unprecedented natural calamity, it said.

PTI