Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi are conducting an aerial survey of rain-ravaged areas in Uttarkhand today where flash floods have claimed over a hundred lives and left thousands of pilgrims for Himalayan shrines stranded. The situation created by the heavy rains and floods in the state was discussed at the Congress Core Group meeting on Wednesday morning.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram told reporters after the meeting that the situation in Uttarakhand is better than what it was on Tuesday and Food Minister K V Thomas is taking steps to rush more food grains to the flood-hit Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.

On the steps being initiated by the government to provide succour to the victims, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said that IAF helicopters have been deployed to evacuate stranded people from Gaurikund in Uttarakhand while a control centre has been established in Badrinath.