Tarun Gogoi reviews quake relief efforts

Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Thursday reviewed relief, rescue and rehabilitation efforts taken by the government for those from the state affected by the quake in Nepal.

The Chief Minister chaired a meeting of ministers and senior officers to take stock of the prevailing situation and chalk out a strategy to provide further help to the affected people, an official release said.

Gogoi, who returned from a visit to Australia today, was informed that 152 people from the state were in Nepal during the quake on April 25 with 126 of them returning to the state.

The bodies of six people who died in the quake have been brought back to the state and cremated.

There were 18 people still in Nepal and efforts were on to bring them back to the state while two persons were missing.

The Chief Minister was also apprised of the various helplines that the state disaster management formed to provide assistance to the affected people.

The meeting was attended among others by Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Bhumidhar Barman, Chief Secretary Jitesh Khosla, Additional Chief Secretaries V K Pipersenia, Subhas Das and M G V K Bhanu, Home Commissioner and Secretary L S Changsan and Assam State Disaster Management Authority Chief Executive Officer P K Tiwary.

The Chief Minister would also lead a candlelight prayer meeting for those who perished in the Nepal quake at Dighalipukhuri here at 7 PM.