Put on record rescue is over,SC tells state

Plea contests claim that evacuation is over,relief given

The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought an affidavit from the Uttarakhand government,putting on record that all those stranded in the areas affected by the flash floods have been evacuated and provided with immediate relief of all kind.

The scope of the writ petition is confined to rescue operations and immediate relief for those affected by the floods. The counsel for Uttarakhand submits that all rescue operations are over and immediate relief have also been granted. However,this statement is disputed by the petitioner. Hence,we call upon the state of Uttarakhand to file an affidavit of compliance,indicating therein that rescue operations are over, said a Bench led by Justice A K Patnaik.

The court asked the state to file its affidavit by July 10 and posted the matter for hearing on July 12. The categorical response had to be sought after senior advocate Kailash Vasudev,appearing for the PIL petitioner,claimed that there were people still stranded in different areas of the state and that the authorities required to do a lot more to accord immediate reprieve to them.

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Senior advocate U K Uniyal,appearing for the state,however persisted with the argument that rescue operations had been completed while the Centres counsel maintained that the state will be in a better position to answer.

We dont want to expand the scope of the petition. We had taken it up to ensure rescue of people and immediate relief. We realise complete rehabilitation can take months and years together. However in view of the dispute raised to the state governments contention,we will seek an affidavit, observed the court.

Entertaining a PIL filed by advocate Ajay Bansal,the apex court had prodded the Centre and the state government to step up the rescue operations. It had sought action taken reports from the authorities to oversee the loss of life and properties are minimised.

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