Amarnath flash floods: Financial assistance announced for families of two Delhi residents

NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday announced a financial assistance of Rs 10 lakh each for the families of two Delhi residents killed in a cloudburst near the Amarnath shrine in Jammu and Kashmir.

Flash floods triggered by heavy rains struck near the shrine on July 8, leaving at least 16 people dead and more than 30 missing.

Kejriwal on Monday met the families of Birmati and her sister-in-law Prakashi, who died in the tragedy, and assured them of all possible help.

“Delhi residents Birmatiji and Prakashiji died due to the cloudburst during the Amarnath Yatra. I just met their families. We will give an assistance of Rs 10 lakh to each family. We will arrange for good education for their children. And will help them in whatever way we can. May God give peace to their souls,” Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi.

The annual 43-day yatra commenced from the twin base camps — Nunwan-Pahalgam in south Kashmir’s Anantnag and Baltal in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal — on June 30.

The chief minister said the families of the two women were not doing well financially and the government would stand with them during these troubled times.

“The rescue operation is still in progress, and if we come across more casualties, we will provide Rs 10 lakh to each family. The Union government is conducting the relief work, and we will provide all support to them,” he said.

Birmati and Prakashi lived with their families in Madangir, Ambedkar Nagar. According to a statement issued by the government, Birmati initially had no plan to go on the yatra. She was a diabetic and was often ill, it said.

But they started for the yatra on July 2 in a private bus, and no one else from their families accompanied them, as per the statement.

Birmati’s relatives said she was a homemaker and her husband Balkishan a retired NDMC employee. The couple has four children, all of them married.

Prakashi has three children, one son and two daughters, all married. She was engaged in housekeeping jobs to run the family.

Their relatives said they had spoken to Birmati and Prakashi shortly before the cloudburst incident when they informed that they had reached Amarnath safely, but it was raining heavily, the statement said. (PTI)