Visit Ladakh | News
Thursday, 02 September 2010 01:26
Leh, Sep 01: President Pratibha Patil on Wednesday lauded the relief and rehabilitation efforts undertaken by defence personnel in cloudburst-affected Leh but said much more work needs to be done before the onset of winter there."I have just visited a site affected by the cloudburst and the resultant flash floods in Ladakh, in which many lives were lost, many suffered injuries and a number of people went missing. There has been extensive damage to property.
"In this difficult hour all of us are with the people of Ladakh. My deepest sympathies go out to those who have lost their loved ones and to those including the uniformed personnel who have suffered during this calamity," Patil told the men in uniform after visiting a relief camp set up for the victims of the flash floods.
The cloudburst on the night of August 5 led to flash floods and mudslides which claimed over 175 lives and injured about 400 people, besides causing widespread damage to public and private property.
"You must continue with rehabilitation work as the damage has been widespread and, moreover before the onset of winter, much work needs to be done to help rebuild the homes and lives of the people of Ladakh," Patil said.
"Natural calamities and disasters are a reminder of the forces of nature. I am proud that during these difficult times the armed forces gave an account of unprecedented courage, selfless devotion and unparallelled dedication involving themselves in relief, rescue and re-construction efforts," Patil said admiring the work of the defence personnel.
She also appreciated the doctors from the Army and commended the special efforts made to locate missing personnel and rescue the stranded people, including foreign tourists.
"Your hard work and sustained efforts, undertaken in coordination with local authorities, have helped in the restoration of road and signal communications, electricity, water supply and other essential services," Patil added.
Chief of Staff of 14 Corps Major General R K Yadav said after the President's interaction that the relief and restoration work would be accomplished by mid-October.
"We suffered a lot of damage due to cloudburst. A lot of people have lost their properties and both the civil administration and the Army are doing relief and rehabilitation work. We feel we will be able to do this work by mid-October," Yadav said.
Patil also boosted the morale of the troops deployed at the icy heights by saying that inspite of all odds, the soldiers never "dithered" in performing their duties.
"All of you braving the extreme odds of nature, facing the vagaries of hostile weather and terrain conditions, are the sentinels of our country. The climatic and topographic conditions in this region are the most demanding in the world. However, you all brave soldiers have never dithered.
"The lofty heights in some places of 21,000 feet may appear daunting to the most daring mountaineers, but you are deployed in these high altitudes for prolonged periods without any fear, braving the hypoxic conditions and bearing physical, mental and psychological hardships," she said. Agencies
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