Alive to situation in Ramban, working diligently to restore normalcy: CM Omar

Ramban, Apr 26: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Saturday asserted that Ramban was not off his mind and he was fully alive to the situation there as the entire administration was working persistently and meticulously to restore normalcy.

The Chief Minister was responding to media queries, after winding up his visit ñ the third within a week, to flash-flood and landslide-affected areas of Ramban district.

ìToday we have not come here to take or announce some big measures. The main objective of my visit was to reassure the people of Ramban that a very big tragedy struck Pahalgam recently, despite it, we did not forget them (people). They (Ramban people) should not feel that they were forgotten by the government and it (government) was focussed on Pahalgam only,î CM Omar said.

That is why as soon as my workload in Srinagar was eased a bit, I immediately reached Ramban. Here I met my (party) colleagues, reviewed the situation with the officials in the administration and assessed the progress of relief and restoration work,î he said.

Responding to another query, he said that the National Highway was restored for one-way traffic. ìSince we want to expedite the restoration work of National Highway therefore tomorrow there will be traffic halting for a day for repair purposes the Chief Minister said.

Regarding queries about rehabilitation work, he said that the affected people, who lost their houses in the devastation, would be allotted five Marlas of land at a safer place.

ìIn this connection, directions have been issued to the district administration. Regarding demand for free ration for the most affected people, the Deputy Commissioner has been asked to submit a proposal. We will accept that. They will be provided free ration for three months. Similarly, the proposal will be prepared to compensate for commercial losses and damage to shops and other business structures, other than assistance available under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF). We are working in a phased manner, diligently to restore normalcy here,î he assured.