BJP demands 'white paper' on Uttarakhand tragedy from govt

Dehradun, June 13: Claiming that human skeletal remains are "still lying" under the rubble in Kedarnath valley even a year after the calamity struck the hill state, opposition BJP today asked the Harish Rawat government to come up with a "white paper" on the tragedy.

In the white paper, the opposition has asked from the government, the details of the conditions prevailing in the state when the disaster struck there and the conditions at present.

"It is a year since the calamity struck but there are still a large number of skeletal remains lying inside the dilapidated structures close to Kedarnath. We demand that the state government issue a white paper on the calamity clarifying what has it done during the period to ameliorate the condition of the affected people," BJP national Secretary Trivendra Singh Rawat told reporters here.

The BJP's allegation comes a day after a private news channel aired a video footage of a forest near Junglechatti on way to Kedarnath, strewn with decomposed bodies claiming that there must at least be more than a hundred skeletal remains in the area which is not very difficult to access.

Accusing the state government of giving "misleading" figures about the number of devotees visiting the famous Himalayan shrines, Trivendra said it is busy playing the game of "producing false data" to give a rosy picture but the reality is far from it.

"The fact is that the conditions in affected areas remain unchanged even a year after the tragedy and has badly affected the number of devotees visiting the shrines," he said.

Endorsing Trivendra's views, Pradesh BJP chief Tirath Singh Rawat also said the "discovery" of a large number of skeletal remains near Junglechatti has exposed the truth behind the so-called massive combing operation carried out by the state police which claimed to have disposed of over six hundred bodies in different parts of the state till September last year.

"Where was the combing operation carried out when bodies are still being found near Junglechatti?" Tirath told PTI. He also said the party had demanded a white paper on the calamity in the just-concluded three day session of the state assembly detailing where the huge amounts of money received from the Centre and different agencies had been spent.

PTI