Badal announces Re 1 lakh ex-gratia for Hemkund victims

Chandigarh, Jun 24 (UNI) Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today announced an ex-gratia grant of Rs one lakh each for the next of kin of the pilgrims who were killed on way to Hemkund Sahib Shrine due to avalanche near the shrine in Uttarakhand yesterday.

Deeply mourning the sad and tragic demise of eight pilgrims who were killed and 7 others who were injured in the incident, the chief minister also announced a grant of Rs 50,000 and Rs 25,000 each for accident victims with serious and minor injuries respectively.

Mr Badal today called up Uttarakhand Chief Minister Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri and urged him to intensify the rescue operations to extricate the bodies buried under the glacier.

He also asked Mr Khanduri to make necessary arrangements for the transportation of the bodies after their identification to respective places in Punjab besides providing proper medical care and treatment to the injured. The entire expenditure on their treatment would be borne by the Punjab Government, Mr Badl said.

The Punjab CM also directed the State Chief Secretary and Director General of Police to be in touch with their counterparts in Uttarakhand to keep a close tab on the situation.

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