Union Home Minister Amit Shah will likely undertake a two-day visit to the Jammu division on 31 August and 1 September to assess the destruction caused by the recent floods in the region.
According to official sources, Shah will travel to the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine base camp at Katra in Reasi district and to Kishtwar, in addition to inspecting flood-hit areas.
The floods claimed nearly 150 lives, including around 130 pilgrims.
“The Union Home Minister will reach Jammu on August 31 evening and return to the Union capital on September 1 evening. He will be accompanied by a team of Ministry of Home Affairs officials during the visit,” sources stated. “In the evening of August 31, he will chair a high-level meeting at the Raj Bhawan to assess the damage caused by the floods across the Jammu region.”
They further added, “Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha will attend the meeting and brief the Home Minister about the damage caused, relief/rescue operations and restoration of infrastructure across the region.”
Heavy rainfall, cloudbursts and landslides have left widespread destruction, damaging roads, bridges, homes, shops, crops and farmland.
The calamity also disrupted the Mata Vaishno Devi pilgrimage and the Machail Mata Yatra.
During the visit, Shah will meet injured pilgrims at Narayana Hospital in Katra. He will then undertake an aerial survey of the devastation at Chashoti in Kishtwar, where a cloudburst on 14 August left 65 people dead, most of them pilgrims, and over 100 others injured.
The Home Minister will also visit severely affected areas in the Jammu district before returning to the capital.
Speculation is mounting that the Centre could announce a substantial relief package for victims and damaged infrastructure. It remains to be seen whether Shah makes such an announcement during his visit or after completing his ground assessment.
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