Declare recent floods in J-K as national calamity: JKNPP

The Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (NPP) today appealed to the Union government to declare the recent floods in the state as a national calamity.
"We demand that Government of India must announce the rains and floods that caused havoc in the entire state in the first week of September to be declared as a national calamity," NPP President and MLA from Udhampur Balwant Singh Mankotia said.
He said that his party today submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister and the Chief Justice of India, demanding that recent floods in the state be declared as a national calamity.

Mankotia whose indefinite hunger strike entered the third day today said, "the people of flood-hit areas of Jammu province had lots of hope after the visit of Prime Minister to the flood-hit areas of the state, but to their dismay so far nothing has been done for them."
He said that the flood-hit residents of Jammu province were facing an uncertain future in view of the upcoming harsh winter season in the state.
"The state government too has miserably failed in providing food and shelter to the people," the NPP president said.
Mankotia alleged that thousands of metric tonnes of rice sent as relief by Chattisgarh government to the Jammu and Kashmir government was not distributed to the flood affected people in the state.

"The rice sent by the Chattisgarh government 20 days ago is still rotting at Railway Yard in Udhampur district," he said.