Death toll may mount as hundreds go missing
Even as relief efforts in flood-hit Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh were stepped up on Wednesday, there were serious concerns about 30,000 pilgrims trapped between Gauri Kund and Kedarnath shrine. Rescue teams were finding it difficult to reach them and provide medicines, food and blankets due to the inclement weather.
Gauri Kund is the last road from where pilgrims trek or ride ponies to traverse the 14 km unpaved road to reach the shrine. Heavy rains washed away the road, and some portions were blocked by landslides.
The death toll from the disaster brought on by heavy rains and landslides touched 102 just in Uttarakhand, while 19,274 people, including 1,024 from Kedarnath, were shifted to safer places in rescue operations that are going on at a war footing. The State Government has pressed 22 choppers for the rescue operations. Ironically, nobody has any idea about the exact figure of casualties. All officials in chorus claim “heavy loss of lives.”
Talking on condition of anonymity a senior official said death toll would be more than 50-60 times than the official figure. In other words, the death toll would be in between 5,000-6,000.
“It all happened because Government officials including the District Magistrate could not anticipate the situation despite an weather department alert warning of 48 hours of heavy rains from June 15 onwards. They didn’t take the alert seriously. As a result no efforts were taken to check traffic moving towards the Char Dham Yatra route. The traffic should have been stopped at Rishikesh and efforts should have been made to shift the pilgrims from Kedarnath, Badrinath, Yamunotri and Gangotri,” he said.
According to official figures, merely 26 people have been reported missing, while eyewitness claimed that the number of missing people may be in hundreds. So far, more than 100 people have been reportedly injured. This figure is more likely to increase. The disaster also claimed lives of 1,147 cattle.
Not ruling out casualties due to delay in providing help, Defence officials said IAF helicopters managed to drop food packets and other essential items in the flood-affected areas of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday, but could not land due to paucity of dry space.
Moreover, bigger helicopters like MI-17s cannot be pressed into service there as the rotor downwash can trigger a land slide.
Battling such problems, the IAF has asked the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) to repair its helipad near Kedarnath. Officials said it will be operational by Wednesday evening or Thursday morning. The ITBP helipad was badly damaged by torrential rains, and once it is operational the MI-17s can land there after winching up people, they said.
The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has deployed more than 3,000 personnel to repair the badly damaged 14 km stretch between Gauri Kund and Kedarnath.
It is also trying to repair the road connecting Gauri Kund to Phata, besides a dozen major badly-damaged arterial roads, officials said.
Road building equipment like bull dozers, excavators, compressors and other platforms were airlifted, and if need be more personnel will be shifted from other States, they said. Defence Minister AK Antony reviewed the rescue efforts throughout the day. The BRO chief besides the Army and IAF chief briefed him on the situation.
The Crisis Management Group headed by the Cabinet Secretary was also activated and the Defence and Home Secretaries updated him about the ongoing operations.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, undertook an aerial survey of rain-ravaged Uttarakhand alongwith UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. Highlighting the difficulties faced in mounting rescue operations by air, officials said the MI-17s were not able to fly to some badly affected places and the IAF was now using the advanced light helicopters (AlH) to lift casualties and drop food packets. These AlHs can at the most carry three to four persons whereas the MI-17s are capable of flying 14 to 15 people at one time, they said.
Given these constraints, the IAF still managed to fly more than 100 sorties in the last three days and deliver more than four tons of aid, they said adding 20 helicopters including MI-17s, MI-5 and AlHs were engaged in the mammoth efforts.
Seven civilian helicopters were also operating in the area. Incidentally, all the helicopters are now operating from Jolly Grant airfield in Dehradun. Sarsawa (Punjab), Ambala (Haryana) and Shimla airfields were also used for relief operations in Haryana and Himachal Pradesh respectively.
Moreover, a C-130J medium lift transport aircraft was deployed on Wednesday in Uttarakhand for aerial reconnaissance of flood-hit areas between Dehradun-Kedarnath and Dehradun-Joshimath sectors to enable the State administration and IAF to identify and reach the most affected areas in the shortest possible time after analyzing the data collected by infra-red cameras aboard C-130 J. Officials also said one AN-32 transport aircraft was on standby in Agra.
Besides the air effort, the Army deployed more than 5,500 personnel and managed to rescue nearly 6,000 stranded people in the last three days. Specialised mountaineering teams were now on their way to Kedarnath-Soumang area to provide help to people trapped there, officials said.
Uttarakhand police personnel, including sub-inspector Hemendra Rawat, rescued 800 stranded people from Sonprayag by constructing a footbridge, using ropes. ITBP and police personnel rescued 1,500 people from disaster affected areas of Chamoli.
Choppers air-lifted 125 people from Guptkashi to the Jollygrant Airport. This included six jawans of the Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) and five PAC personnel. Of them, three who complained of breathing problem were admitted to different hospitals. Fifteen people, who were stranded at Harshil and Matali, were rescued and two choppers were pressed into service to drop food packets and water bottles.
Police uploaded a list of more than 300 rescued people on its website: http://uttarakhandpolice.uk.gov.in. The website is being updated regularly.
The State police have deployed the PAC for Gangotri followed by Bhairon Ghati, Kedarnath, Danupani in Rudraprayag district, Gauri Kund, Gulabrai and Rudraprayag, Gauchar, Chamoli, Munsyari, Dharchula and Askot.
Superintendent of Police Nilesh Anand Bharne, in-charge disaster relief control room said: “Rescue operations are going on at a war footing. As per inputs reaching the control room, rescue teams, including NDRF and Army personnel, have rescued around 1,000 stranded people. Police personnel equipped with satellite phones and other required kits are engaged in rescue operation.”
Five helipads, including two at Harshil and one each at Matli, Chinyalisaud and Barkot are functioning at Uttarkashi followed by five in Chamoli at three locations, including one at Gauchar, and two each at Badrinath and Joshimath.
Six helipads, including one each at Kedarnath, Phata, Guptkashi, Agastmuni, Rudraprayag and a temporary one constructed at Gauri khund, are functioning in Rudraprayag district.