New Delhi:
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday announced Rs 500 crore relief assistance to flood-hit Uttarakhand, a day after Congress President Sonia Gandhi requested him for a liberal package to state.
The advance interim assistance would be in addition to the money given on Tuesday for the State Disaster Response Fund, a PMO release said.
Keeping in view the situation arising from unprecedented floods and landslides in state, the request made by Gandhi for liberal Central assistance and the demand of slightly over Rs 900 crore projected by the state government, the Prime Minister has announced the relief assistance of Rs 500 crore, it said.
An inter-Ministerial Central team has been constituted to visit the state to make an on-the-spot assessment of the damages, it said.
The team would visit as soon as the state government is ready to receive it, the release said, adding that based on the assessment of the team, "further assistance would be
considered".
Gandhi, who made an aerial survey of the worst flood-affected areas of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday, spoke to Singh and sought a liberal package to the state to tackle the situation.
Over 60 people have died and thousands rendered homeless due to the floods in Uttarakhand.