LUCKNOW, India (CU)_The Uttarakhand government on Monday (Feb 22) issued an order for the issuance of death certificates for 134 people who are still missing, a fortnight after the flash floods in Chamoli district. Authorities say that these individuals, in all likelihood, have died in the disaster, although their bodies have not yet been found.
The move to declare these missing individuals as presumed dead would expedite the process of compensating the affected families. However, officials stressed that despite the issuance of death certificates, search operations will continue to be carried out.
In the meantime, family members of the missing people will be required to submit an affidavit and other relevant details to a designated government officer, who will then conduct a proper inquiry and issue the death certificates. “This will help in settling compensation for the families of those missing,” the government order said.
Although the 1969 Registration of Births and Deaths Act requires individuals who go missing in a disaster to remain untraced for seven years in order to be declared dead, however, in this case, the government has invoked these provisions of the legislation.
Accordingly, death certificates for these persons will be issued under three categories. Firstly, for those from the same district, secondly, for those people from other districts of Uttarakhand who went missing after the tragedy. The finally category includes people from other states of the country who were at the disaster site.
Meanwhile, the Uttarakhand government said on Tuesday that the death toll in the incident rose to 70 after two more bodies were recovered from the debris, while 29 human organs have also been recovered so far.
