Dehradun, June 25, 2013: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi arrived here on Monday and started a tour of Pauri and Uttarkashi by road to assess the damage from last week’s rains, flash floods and landslips.

He is expected to meet victims and party workers on Tuesday, sources in the party said.

Earlier in the day, Mr. Rahul, along with his mother and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, flagged off trucks carrying relief supplies to Uttarakhand from New Delhi. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna met the rescued pilgrims at a relief camp set up on the Dehradun Police Lines and assured them of all assistance.

He urged the electronic media to highlight the achievements of rescue teams and the good arrangements made at relief camps too.The names of the rescued persons were being uploaded on the State government’s website, he said. Over 80,000 pilgrims had so far been rescued.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chauhan, Andhra Pradesh Minister Shridhar Babu and former A.P. Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, met Mr. Bahuguna and assured him of assistance.

Source: The Hindu, DT. June 25, 2013.