Bhubaneshwar, June 25, 2013: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday took up the issue of evacuation of Odisha tourists stranded at Badrinath temple with his Uttarakhand counterpart.

Mr. Patnaik during a telephonic conversation with Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna sought his intervention for early evacuation of tourists from Odisha stranded at Badrinath.

According to the Special Relief Commissioner’s office, the Uttarakhand Chief Minister has assured to take steps.

The State government was asked to intimate the names and details of the persons from Odisha stranded at Badrinath.

Meanwhile, 106 more persons have been added to the list of people from Odisha who have returned safe from Uttarakhand after the catastrophe that occurred on account of severe floods and landslips.

Tally goes up

The tally of people from Odisha returned goes up to 313, said the SRC office. As many as 14 persons were coming to Bhubaneswar by Air India flight on Monday evening.

A senior IPS officer, five officers of the rank of the Odisha Administrative Service, and three doctors have been deployed in three teams at Haridwar, Dehradun, and Rishikesh for better coordination and providing immediate relief to the people expected to come from Badrinath.

According to information reaching the State, the evacuation process slowed down as helicopters had not been able to make sorties as expected due to bad weather.

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