Following the direction of State Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar, DIG Sanjay Gunjyal led a special task force that began combing operation in search of human remains in Kedar valley on Sunday.
Talking to The Pioneer, Gunjyal said that four teams consisting of 20 to 25 State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel, mountaineers and Uttarakhand police have been formed and they are combing four different places in the Kedar valley.
Rudraprayag SP BJ Singh said that teams have been deployed to recover the skeletons en route to Kedarnath.
A total of 17 skeletons were cremated on Friday and Saturday after collecting DNA samples and a similar process could be undertaken for the rest of the skeletons to facilitate identification. Reports are awaited regarding recovery of skeletal remains on Sunday, he added.
The combing operation launched on Sunday would cover the region from Sonprayag to Kedarnath. DIG GS Martolia who led a team consisting of 22 members - SDRF personnel, mountaineers and Uttarakhand police for combing operation in the Kedar valley said that the team conducted intensive search operation in Rambara area.
The team has been assigned to comb a five square kilometre forest area between Rambara and Gaurikund and will cover one and half square kilometres area per day.
According to him, the weather on Sunday was clear and the helicopter service was operational enabling tourists to travel to Kedarnath.
After launch of combing operation on Kedar valley, the remains of 38 bodies were found in the forest areas so far and search operation is continuing.
Martolia who was deputed to Kedarnath for searching bodies of victims’ in the aftermath of the disaster said that he was also assigned to oversee repair and construction of the route to Kedarnath. He saidthat “It was a difficult task but we somehow managed to complete the assignment despite adverse conditions in the valley.” The remains of pilgrims believed to have died after spending days without food or water were found in Jungle Chatti. Martolia said that so far skeletal remains of 17 persons had been recovered from Chirvasa, a forest area between Gaurikund and Jungle Chatti.
It should be mentioned here that after reports of skeletons of last year’s disaster victims being found in Jungle Chatti area, the Chief Minister
Harish Rawat directed the Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar to constitute a special task force for conducting intensive combing operation in the Kedar Valley.
Kumar formed a special task force headed by DIG Sanjay Gunjyal and teams were directed to immediately launch a fresh combing operation in the valley.
The operation will go on for 20 days and will cover the entire region from Sonprayag to Kedarnath. The task force will also hold the last funeral rites of the bodies after collecting DNA sampling and completing necessary formalities.