President to donate month's salary to flood victims

New Delhi, June 23: President Pranab Mukherjee would be donating his one month's salary of Rs.1.5 lakh for the victims of the floods in Uttarakhand, an official of the Rashtrapati Bhavan said.

"He would be donating his one month's salary, which is Rs 1.5 lakh," Venu Rajamony, press secretary to the president, said.

Unprecedented heavy rain, cloudbursts and landslides on the weekend of June 15 ravaged the hill state of Uttarakhand, at a time when the Char Dham pilgrimage was at its peak.

According to the state government, 557 bodies have so far been recovered. Some 20,000 people were still awaiting evacuation.

Officials and rescuers fear that the fatalities may run into hundreds, if not thousands.

IANS