Lucknow, June 25, 2013: With over 1200 pilgrims from Uttar Pradesh officially reported missing, or stranded in flood-ravaged Uttarakhand till Monday, about 1900 others have registered themselves at the four relief camps set up in the hill State upon their return. Two relief camps have been set up in Haridwar and one each in Rishikesh and Jollygrant in Dehradun.

Even as the relief and rehabilitation measures for pilgrims from the State were stepped up by the U.P. government, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has announced his decision to donate one month’s salary to the Uttarakhand relief fund. According to a release issued by the Chief Minister’s Information Campus on Monday, Mr. Yadav has appealed to his Ministers, MPs and MLAs to donate generously to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund for the rehabilitation work in Uttarakhand. The Special Secretary (Revenue), Srinivas, told reporters that 900 pilgrims registered themselves at the two relief camps in Haridwar on Monday, 450 in Rishikesh and 540 in Jollygrant. The revenue official added that medicines and other essentials had been given to 180 persons.

Of the over 1200 persons still missing or stranded in the neighbouring State, the details of 660 persons have been registered at the control room in the Relief Commissioner’s office in the State capital and 626 in the control room at the DG Police office here. According to the ADG (Law and Order), Arun Kumar, about 121 persons who were reported missing earlier have since returned to their homes.

Mr. Kumar said 11 unidentified bodies have been recovered from the Ganga in Uttar Pradesh. Two bodies were recovered in Bijnor district and three in Muzaffarnagar district on Monday. Mr. Kumar said the police have been directed to keep a close vigil on the Ganga and Yamuna river front. Directives have also been given for taking the DNA samples and preserving the clothes of the dead which would help in their identification.

Meanwhile, the Ganga showed a receding trend along its course from Narora in Bulandshahr district to Ballia. The Yamuna was stable; however, the Sharda was rising along its course from Banbasa in Nainital district in Uttarakhand to Paliakalan and Shardanagar in Lakhimpur Kheri district in U.P. One person was washed away in the flood waters of the Sharda in Lakhimpur Kheri district on Monday.

Source: The Hindu, DT. June 25, 2013.