The Hindu : National : Sonia, Patil visit snow-hit areas in J&K

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Sonia, Patil visit snow-hit areas in J&K

Luv Puri

Conduct aerial survey in Doda, Kishtwar districts; she first visits Azad’s hometown Bhaderwah

— Photo: Nissar Ahmad

ASSESSING THE PROBLEM: UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, accompanied by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti, listens to the woes of snow-affected people in the State on Friday.

Udhampur: United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, along with a team of Home Ministry officials, on Friday visited the snow-hit areas of Jammu and Kashmir. They also conducted an aerial survey of the affected areas in Doda and Kishtwar districts.

Ms. Gandhi first visited Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad’s hometown Bhaderwah to assess the losses. She gave a patient hearing to the locals and assured them that steps would be taken to solve their problems. Later she visited Kishtwar district. There was fresh snowfall in the area as the team was taking stock of the situation.

The team could not cross over the Pir Panjal mountain range to reach south Kashmir owing to bad weather. As a result, a tour of the avalanche-hit areas in Anantnag and Kulgam districts was cancelled.

According to the State government, 19 people were killed in weather-related incidents and two missing.

Hours before the visit of Ms. Gandhi, the CRPF recovered four kg of RDX and a large amount of ammunition from a hideout at a village near Bhaderwah.

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