PM Modi to visit J&K for flood damage review, relief package likely

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Jammu and Kashmir in the coming days to review the devastation caused by heavy monsoon rains, cloudbursts, floods and landslides. The visit follows his tour of flood-hit Himachal Pradesh earlier this week.

 

Senior BJP leader and organisational General Secretary Ashok Koul told THE WEEK that Modi will take a first-hand account of damages in Jammu and Kashmir. “He will come. The date of the visit will be announced soon,” he said.

 

Modi will conduct aerial surveys of Katra in Reasi district, where 35 pilgrims died en route to Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine on August 27 in a landslide.

 

He will also survey Chasoti in Kishtwar, where more than 60 pilgrims heading to Machail Mata shrine were killed in a massive cloudburst.

 

This is the third visit by a senior minister from the Centre to Jammu. On August 24, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visited Jammu to take stock of the situation in Chashoti. Singh’s plan to visit the devastated village, on the way to Machail Mata shrine, was scuppered by inclement weather and the blocking of a road by a fresh landslide in Paddar subdivision.

 

Modi’s visit comes after Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s two-day tour of Jammu for flood damage assessment on August 31.

 

Before his departure for Jammu, Shah announced the formation of an Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) for on-the-spot inspection of worst-hit areas.

The eight-member IMCT is currently touring J&K to prepare a report for financial assistance to victims.

 

Jammu and Kashmir witnessed deaths and destruction to private property and infrastructure due to monsoon rains, floods and cloudbursts in August. Several important bridges were damaged in Jammu while hundreds of kilometres of roads were damaged or washed away by floods and landslides.

 

The floods also caused extensive damage to defence infrastructure, including the fencing at the international border with Pakistan.

 

The Jammu–Srinagar National Highway suffered damage at several vulnerable points due to landslides and shooting stones.

 

The highway closure has left hundreds of vehicles stranded. The blockade has raised anxieties among apple farmers, who fear delays in transporting their produce outside Kashmir during peak harvest season.

 

After completing his tour of the flood-ravaged areas in Jammu, Modi is likely to announce a special relief package for victims to support rebuilding efforts and restore connectivity.

 

The relief package will be announced after the IMCT submits a report to the Central government.

India