Antony to review U'Khand relief ops, future reconstruction

New Delhi, Jun 24: Defence Minister A K Antony will on Monday review the relief operations being carried out by the Army and the Air Force in rain-ravaged Uttarakhand and discuss the role of the defence services in the reconstruction work in the hill state.

The role of armed forces in reconstruction work in Uttarakhand will come up for discussion after demands from several quarters that they should be involved in it for the faster recovery of the state whose large parts have been devastated, defence ministry officials said here.

The defence minister will discuss the issue with the top security brass of the country including National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon, Defence Secretary R K Mathur and the three Services chiefs.

The Defence Minister will also hold a separate review meeting of the state of roads in the state with Director General of Border Roads Organisation (BRO) Lt Gen A T Parnaik, they said.

From day one of the crisis, the forces under the defence ministry have deployed their assets and personnel in large numbers to provide all possible relief to the civilians and the pilgrims stranded in the higher reaches of the state.

The IAF has deployed more than 50 choppers along with its C-130J Super Hercules Special Operations aircraft to provide help to the stranded people while the Army has deployed over 10,000 of its jawans there.

PTI