Narendra Modi will visit flood-hit Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday: PMO

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit flood-hit Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday to take stock of the situation, said the Prime Minister's Office on Saturday. The visit comes a day after Home Minister Rajnath Singh returned from his visit to the state, which has witnessed its worst floods in 50 years.

The Prime Minister also called for a review meeting to assess the situation, which was attended by the Cabinet Secretary and other officials.

Earlier in the day, the Indian Air Force rescued 108 people from the flood-hit areas of Jammu and Kashmir. Many of those rescued were stranded on rooftops, marooned in the floods.

At least 100 people have lost their lives and many are still stranded in floods in the past three days. A red alert has been issued in parts of South Srinagar as the Jhelum has breached its embankment in Pulwama.

Meanwhile, seven Army personnel have been rescued from flood waters in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir. Two soldiers are still missing and efforts are on to rescue them. A team of army personnel had been trapped in flood waters after their boat capsized while carrying out relief and rescue operation in Pampore area of Pulwama district.

Traffic on the Jammu-Pathankot highway has been stopped after incessant rain. All trains bound for Katra, including the recently launched Katra Express, have been suspended after landslides at many places along the track in Udhampur in Jammu.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is moving teams to Srinagar and Jammu for rescue and relief operations.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh held a meeting with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to take stock of the flood situation in Jammu and Kashmir. Singh arrived in Srinagar on Saturday morning and went straight into a meeting with the CM in the technical area of the airport where both discussed steps to meet the situation arising out of the worst floods in the state in six decades.

Singh said, "The Prime Minister has expressed his deep concern and also announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to families of deceased and Rs 50,000 to injured."

He added, "If needed I will appeal to other states to help Jammu and Kashmir."

Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad has appealed to the Prime Minister to declare the floods a national calamity.