The National Disaster Management Authority fears that the number of missing in Uttarakhand will be higher than the figure of about 4,000 given out by the State Government.
M Sashidhar Reddy, Vice-Chairman of the authority, said the State Government had arrived at the figure on the basis of their assessment. “From our assessment, the number could be higher than that (4,000). An NGO had done its own assessment and arrived at a number of 11,600 (as missing). We cannot ignore this (assessment) too,” he told media persons here today.
He felt that the number of missing persons depended on the actual number of tourists and pilgrims that actually were in Uttarakhand as the disaster struck and the large number of people who went there for work.
Reddy regretted that many states were yet to have in place a permanent set up for their respective State-level disaster management authorities. Only a few States such as Assam, Bihar, Gujarat and more recently Orissa have appointed a full-fledged Vice-Chairman or Chief Executive Officer for their respective disaster management authorities,” he said, adding that now Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh were in the process of having a full-fledged body.
He was also unhappy that most States were not following the detailed guidelines issued by the national authority on disaster prevention, management, rescue and relief. “The guidelines are elaborate, but their implementation was poor,” he pointed out.
amitmitra@thehindu.co.in