State decides to send goods train to Orissa

Addressing a news conference here on Wednesday, Bhatt said responding to the Government8217;s plea, the IPCL had donated polythene sheets to set up shelter camps in the worst-affected parts of Orissa. Various business establishments and voluntary agencies in the State have also donated a huge quantity of foodgrain and other essentials. All these items will be taken on the Sadbhavna Train8217;.

He said the State Health Department had, within 24 hours, mobilised as many as 25 teams of medicos who would carry with them medicines worth about Rs 30 lakh, including one crore chlorine tablets, for distribution among the cyclone victims. 8220;If required, more medicines will be despatched to the disaster-hit State,8221; the Health Minister said.

Donors from Saurashtra and North Gujarat districts will arrive at Ahmedabad railway station with foodgrain and other essential commodities, while supplies will also be received from the Central Gujarat districts at Nadiad, Anand and Vadodara stations and from South Gujarat at Surat railway station. ACS, Revenue, Dr P K Mishra, said he had spoken to his counterpart in Orissa over the phone and inquired if the Orissa Government needed the State8217;s assistance to carry out relief measures in that State. 8220;We are prepared to send relief teams to Orissa to help carry out joint relief operations in the cyclone-battered State,8221; Mishra told reporters.

Meanwhile, State BJP president Rajendrasinh Rana has stated that BJP workers would collect funds from major cities of the State on Thursday for the cyclone victims. In a statement issued here on Wednesday, Rana said a fund-raising programme would later be held at the taluka and district levels.

He said funds from cities like Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Rajkot, Surat, Bhavnagar and Jamnagar would be collected from the different municipal wards.