NEW DELHI: While informing the Rajya Sabha that 20 people had lost their lives, six were injured and 197 had gone missing in the avalanche disaster in Uttarakhand, home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday sought to reassure the MPs that the Centre and state government were working in tandem for timely rescue and relief in the affected areas.
Making a suo motu statement in the upper House, Shah said the state government has ruled out any danger of downstream flooding as the rise in water level has been contained. “Centre and state government have been keeping a strict vigil on the situation. It is observed from the satellite data (Planet Lab) of 7 February, 2021, in catchment of Rishi Ganga river at the terminus of the glacier at an altitude of 5,600 m, a landslide triggered a snow avalanche covering approximately 14 sq km area and causing a flash flood in the downstream of Rishi Ganga river,” he informed the MPs.