Hyderabad: The number of people who went missing in Uttarakhand following the deluge last month might exceed 4,000 as the state government is compiling final figures on the basis of FIRs registered by different states, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) vice chairman M Sasidhar Reddy said on Tuesday.
“The number of missing persons is around 4,000 as per government figures. Some NGOs estimated the number of missing persons as 11,600. The state (Uttarakhand) government is compiling figures on the basis of FIRs registered by different states. So, the figures can grow,” he told reporters.
Asked if the figure of 11,600 was close to reality, he said “this is an estimate made by NGO. I won’t go by it but we cannot also ignore it. The state government is following certain procedures. There are three categories — pilgrims, local residents and those who work as labour. I think an assessment of this numbers will have to go into the official figures”.
Reddy said around 1.10 lakh people stranded in the Himalayan state following the catastrophe have been rescued and at present inaccessible habitations are being provided with essential items, besides laying roads to such remote areas.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have been used to make sure that nobody is left out in rescue, he said.
Replying to a query, Reddy said state governments should have a full-time vice chairman for disaster management.
Reddy said some states like Assam and Odisha have already established institutionalised mechanisms for disaster management.
Reddy, a Congress MLA from Sanatnagar here, has convened a meeting of officials and experts to look into the collapse of the city hotel building at Secunderabad here on Monday.
Reddy said he had been asking the state government to provide space in Hyderabad to house two teams of National Disaster Response Force and set up state disaster response force on the lines of NDRF. (PTI)