SGPC relief teams swing into action in Uttarakhand

Relief teams sent by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) have reached Rishikesh in Uttarakhand and are providing food, water and medicines to pilgrims being evacuated by the army and para military forces from areas which were devastated by flash floods in the higher reaches of the Garhwal hills beyond Kedarnath.

Relief teams sent by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) have reached Rishikesh in Uttarakhand and are providing food, water and medicines to pilgrims being evacuated by the army and para military forces from areas which were devastated by flash floods in the higher reaches of the Garhwal hills beyond Kedarnath.

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SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar said that a team of the SGPC had setup a 'langar' (community kitchen) near Rishikesh where food and water was being served to the pilgrims evacuated from Hemkunt Sahib, Badrinath, Kedarnath and other places in the Garhwal hills.

The team was also supplying packed food to the army and paramilitary forces and these packets were being air-dropped by helicopters in Kedarnath.

Makkar said that a 10-member team of the Shri Guru Ram Dass Institute of Research and Medical Education and an ambulance had also reached Rishikesh and was providing medicines to the evacuated people.

The injured were also being treated by the team. He said that another SGPC relief team had reached Srinagar in Uttarakhand with wheat flour, pulses and vegetables as stocks of these essential food items had fallen in the gurdwara there. A team of senior officials of the SGPC led by Daljit Singh Bedi has also left for Rishikesh to coordinate the relief operations.

SGPC seeks chopper

Makkar added that the SGPC had been trying to get an helicopter on hire for over two days, but with the
Uttarakhand government having hired all choppers for evacuation of pilgrims, no chopper as of now was available.

Makkar said that a Chandigarh based private aviation company had agreed to make one of its choppers available to the SGPC.

Meanwhile Makkar has appealed to the Prime Minister to ensure that proper evacuation is carried out. He assured the people of Uttarakhand that SGPC relief teams will remain in the state as long as they wished. He said that 'langars' will continue even after the evacuation exercise is complete and if possible the team will also move to other zones.