Centre okays Rs 300 cr funds for Uttarakhand

The Centre has sanctioned Rs 300 crore for the reopening of roads blocked by landslides during last month's flash floods in Uttarakhand, minister for disaster management Yashpal Arya has said.

The Centre has sanctioned Rs 300 crore for the reopening of roads blocked by landslides during last month's flash floods in Uttarakhand, minister for disaster management Yashpal Arya has said.

HT Image

"Also, the state won't have to take the forest department's approval for building or reconstructing roads in a five-hectare area of forest land," Arya told reporters on Sunday following an all-party meeting to discuss relief work convened by chief minister Vijay Bahuguna.

The government, which has been reeling under a volley of criticism from the state human rights commission earlier this month, has been rattled by a questionnaire sent by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on disaster management.

What worries the officials is that the NHRC team — which would be in Dehradun from July 15 to July 17 — would start by interacting with the civil society and the media.