Uttarakhand tragedy: PM announces Rs 2 lakh ex-gratia

New Delhi, Feb 7: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday announced Rs 2 lakh ex-gratia for next of the kin of all those who have lost their lives in the massive flash flood caused by a glacier breach near Joshimath in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district. The Prime Minister also announced Rs 50,000 compensation for those who were seriously injured in the disaster. These amounts will be provided to the victims from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF)-- which is utilised to render immediate relief to families of those killed in natural calamities like floods, cyclones and earthquakes. "PM Narendra Modi has approved ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each from PMNRF for the next of kin of those who have lost their lives due to the tragic avalanche caused by a Glacier breach in Chamoli, Uttarakhand. Rs 50,000 would be given to those seriously injured," Prime Minister's Office (PMO) tweeted. Earlier, the Prime Minister, in a tweet, said that he is constantly monitoring the unfortunate situation in Uttarakhand. "India stands with Uttarakhand and the nation prays for everyone's safety there. Have been continuously speaking to senior authorities and getting updates on NDRF deployment, rescue work and relief operations." Nearly 150 people are missing and several suffered injuries in the incident that occurred after the water level in Dhauliganga river, one of the six sources of the Ganga river, suddenly surged on Sunday morning following an avalanche near the Rishi Ganga power project. The 85 km river meets the Alaknanda river at Vishnuprayag at the base of Joshimath mountain in Uttarakhand. The flash flood occurred in Rishi Ganga at around 10.45 a.m. due to a glacier falling into it and exponentially increasing the volume of water. Due to this, the Rishi Ganga hydro project was completely devastated. As Rishi Ganga meets Dhauliganga near Reni village, the second river also got flooded. Five to six houses of the village were also washed away in the flood and an NTPC project on river Dhauliganga near Tapovan was completely devastated. Two 'Jhula' bridges connecting villages on the other side of the river were also washed away. Around 250 personnel of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Army and NDRF teams are carrying out rescue and search operations on the site. (IANS)