Dehradun, Feb 22 (PTI) Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on Monday apprised Home Minister Amit Shah of relief and rescue efforts being carried out in Joshimath after a recent flash flood that claimed at least 68 lives.

According to an official release, he urged the Union minister to establish a glacier and water resource research centre and provide a helicopter for keeping an eye on disaster-prone and border areas of the state.

Rawat sought the deployment of an IRB battalion in Gairsain for better disaster and border area management.

He sought deployment of a special team equipped with anti-drone technology in view of the forthcoming Haridwar Kumbh starting April 1.

Rawat also underlined the need for an annual budgetary allocation of Rs 20-25 crore for state police modernisation, the release said.

Shah appreciated the urgency with which the state government launched relief and rescue operations in the flood-hit areas of Chamoli district and gave his in-principle agreement to the demands put forward by the CM, saying all possible help will be extended to Uttarakhand, it said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)