Jammu, Sep 1 (IANS) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday visited the Tawi Bridge and Bikram Chowk in Jammu city to assess flood impact before taking an aerial survey of the damage at other places.

Amit Shah was accompanied by J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Leader of Opposition (LoP) Sunil Sharma and other senior officials during his on-the-spot flood assessment on Tawi Bridge and Bikram Chowk.

The Tawi bridge suffered severe damage during recent floods. The Home Minister interacted with the concerned officials and took stock of the situation.

HM Shah also assessed the impact of the flood situation at Bikram Chowk and other adjoining areas.

He is scheduled to make an aerial assessment of the flood damage in Kishtwar district and also at the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi shrine route, where a huge loss of human lives was caused by a cloudburst and landslide on August 14 and August 26.

Amit Shah reached Jammu on Sunday evening. He was received at Jammu Airport by L-G Manoj Sinha and CM Omar Abdullah, among others.

Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, Director Intelligence Bureau (IB) Tapan Deka, DG BSF Daljit Singh Chaudhary, senior officers of NHAI, IMD and many other security agencies also reached Jammu on Sunday.

The Union Home Minister has announced the constitution of inter-ministerial central teams (IMCTs) to assess the damage caused by recent floods in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand.

He will also review damage caused to fencing and border posts along the International Border with Pakistan.

“The MHA is in touch with senior officers of these States/UT, and has extended all necessary logistic assistance by deployment of the requisite number of teams of NDRF, Army and Air Force helicopters, who are helping them in search and rescue and restoration of essential services,” the MHA statement said.

It added that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Central government stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the states affected by natural calamities in mitigating hardships faced by the people.

The IMCTs would make on-the-spot assessment of the situation and relief works carried out by the State/UT governments, it said. Amit Shah is likely to meet some affected families in addition to a visit to the flood-affected localities in Jammu.

–IANS

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