Bhubaneshwar, June 24, 2013: Even as restless is growing among relatives of people who are still trapped in Uttarakhand, the State government here on Sunday claimed it coordinated return of 207 victims of Odisha from the flood-ravaged State.

“The control room at Resident Commissioner’s office in New Delhi has received information about safe return of 47 people from Odisha who were trapped in various locations in Uttarakhand due to flood and landslide,” Special Relief Commissioner said in a statement here.

The SRC said taking into account of 160 persons located earlier, total number of tourists from Odisha those returned from Uttarakhand after the disaster came to 207.

“Resident Commissioner’s office has made arrangements to send eight of these persons (four from Paralakhemundi and four from Jharsuguda) in flight AI-473 on Sunday,” he said.

The SRC office sources said five persons had left New Delhi for Cuttack by Rajdhani Express on Saturday while 21 people had made their own arrangements by flying to Nagpur from where they would go to Jharsuguda.

“Four persons have reached Dehradun and are expected to reach Odisha Niwas, New Delhi on Monday afternoon and three preferred to stay at Haridwar.”

SRC office said the administration was trying its best to render assistance to over 100 people still stranded at Badrinath. “Helicopter sorties took place in a limited form due to bad weather. The SRC is in touch with the commissioner, Garhwal, stationed at Gauchar from where air rescue operations to Badrinath are being undertaken. The latter has been requested to give priority to old, sick, and children from Odisha,” it said.

The State government sent a team of doctors and a few administrative officers from Bhubaneswar to New Delhi to provide medical assistance to the people returning from Uttarakhand and to coordinate for safe rescue and evacuation of Odia people.

Housing and Urban Development Minister Debi Prasad Mishra on Sunday received victims from Uttarakhand at Biju Patnaik Airport here. At Sambalpur, people organised a mass prayer on Mahanadi river bank for safety of victims at Uttarakhand. A family of Sambalpur is said to have lost all its members in the tragedy.

Source: The Hindu, DT. June 24, 2013.