Union home secretary rushes to coordinate rescue operations in Srinagar

New Delhi: In the wake of allegations of tardy pace in rescue and relief measures, Union home secretary Anil Goswami today rushed to Srinagar to coordinate these operations in Jammu and Kashmir, hit by massive floods.Goswami left for Srinagar a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi directed that total support be provided to the state government to deal with the natural calamity.[caption id="attachment_1707417" align="alignleft" width="940"] Submerged Srinagar. AFP[/caption]"A team of officers led by the home secretary left for Srinagar to coordinate relief and rescue operations," a ministry official said.Goswami, who hails from Jammu and Kashmir, is expected to guide the central and state government's efforts for rescue and relief measures for lakhs of people who are still stranded in many flood-affected areas in the Valley, the official said.Chairing a high-level emergency meeting to review relief operations in the state yesterday, Modi had emphasised that immediate attention be given to providing basic necessitieslike food and water to the people severely affected by the calamity.The prime minister has directed that top priority be given to provision of essential commodities to affected people in Srinagar town.A total of 82,000 people have been pulled out in a continuing multi-agency mammoth operation even as an estimated five to six lakh people still await help.PTI