With bad weather forecast from Monday, security forces stepped up operations to rescue 30,000 still stranded
Racing against time before the forecast for weather conditions deteriorating again from Monday turned true, the Army and IAF on Saturday carried out “unprecedented” rescue and relief operations to reach out to those stranded in calamity-struck Uttarakhand.
Nearly 30,000 people are still stranded even as the possibility of the death toll crossing the 1,000-mark was not ruled out. Officially, the death toll stood at 680 on Saturday.
If the Army succeeded in evacuating and rescuing large number of people from different areas of the flood-ravaged State, then the IAF achieved a major breakthrough by transporting more than 8,000 litres of aviation fuel in MI-26 helicopters and C-130 J transport plane to Dharasu to sustain round-the-clock helicopter operations.
The next couple of days will hold the key to the rescue operations as the supply of aviation fuel will lead to a manifold increase in sorties. Already, rains on Saturday hampered operations to an extent.
The Army evacuated all the 500 people stranded in and around Gangotri; 350 of the 1,000 people stranded in Jungle Chatti between Gauri Kund and Ram Bara on the Kedarnath axis and all 45 schoolchildren stranded on the Pindari Glacier in Bageshwar district.
For the first time, a heli-bridge was also created at Govind Ghat in Badrinath Valley to transport pilgrims across the Alaknanda River even as the road from Gangotri to Harsil was cleared and opened for light vehicles.
The Army also managed to restore the road link between Badrinath and Joshimath thereby ensuring speedy removal of pilgrims from Joshimath where 12,000 people were believed to be trapped. The Army is now concentrating on evacuating people from Kedarnath.
Officials said nearly 70,000 people have so far been far rescued and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna said the death toll could have crossed the 1,000-mark. More than 45 IAF helicopters and 11 helicopters of the Army Aviation Corps are now engaged in the operations and made more than 800 sorties.
The Army rescued all barring 25 people from Gagariya on the Hemkund axis. Weather permitting the remaining pilgrims will be evacuated at the earliest, Army officials said.
Food and medicines were dropped and two medical teams were deployed at Gauri Kund to treat patients. Incidentally, Gauri Kund is the last road and pilgrims then trek 14 km on an unpaved track to Kedarnath shrine.
Flash floods last week washed away the track trapping more than 30,000 people and the Army, IAF and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) had managed to evacuate most of them, officials said.
Early on Saturday morning, Army teams prepared a helipad at Jungle Chatti which facilitated evacuation from one of the most dangerous and inaccessible areas of Kedar Valley. This helipad is now being expanded to facilitate landing of Dhruv helicopters. The Army also constructed two helipads at Gauri Kund. Focusing on re-establishing road connectivity, the Army operationalised the foot track between Govind Ghat and lambagar on Badrinath road.
Another Army team conducting road clearing operations from Badrinath to lambagar successfully launched a foot bridge over Alaknanda, thus opening the foot route from Badrinath to Govindghat. The road from Govindghat to Joshimath is open to vehicular traffic.
Across all landslides, people are made to cross on foot and in between any two landslides, vehicles are being used. Two staging areas at Sukhi and Gangnani were established to provide food and medicines to evacuated people. An Army team reached Barkot on Yamunotri axis on Saturday and evacuation of nearly 700 trapped people at Yamunotri will start on Sunday.
In Tawaghat - Dharchula axis in Pithoragarh district, the Army was in the process of establishing link up with approximately 1,000 people in Sobala Valley and medical teams and food was sent to them on Saturday. The Army has so far evacuated 18,500 people and deployed 10,000 soldiers for rescue and relief operations.
In a very innovative move, the IAF established an aviation fuel supply bridge at Dharasu to give greater impetus to rescue operations which were severely restricted due to non-availability of aviation fuel.
The first C 130J aircraft landed at Dharasu (a landing ground only 1,300 meters long) on Saturday despite inclement weather. On landing the aircraft de-fueled 8,000 litres of fuel into an empty bowser which was airlifted on Friday from Sarsawa (Punjab) by a MI 26 helicopter. Apart from carrying fuel to Dharasu, the C-130 J on its return trip carried about 215 stranded pilgrims to Air Force Station at Hindon, in Ghaziabad.
The C-130 transport planes brought them to the Air Force base in three trips. Ghaziabad Police said in the first trip the airplane lifted 40 people from Jolly Grant Airport in Dehradun. Out of this group, 11 people were from Delhi and adjoining areas and the rest of the people were the National Disaster Management Authority personnel and doctors.
“The second sortie rescued 114 people and the third brought 90 victims to the Hindon Air Force base, where they were give food, water and transportation to take them to their final destinations,” SP City Shiv Shankar Yadav said. An emergency medical centre has been set up at Air Force Station Hindan for the medical check-up of all the arriving tourists for immediate attention.
Having paved the way for fixed wing aircraft landing at Dharasu, the IAF also pressed its AN-32 aircraft into action. These aircraft are carrying disaster communication equipment vehicles, some more aviation fuel, Sudan pumps for refueling the helicopters and 4,200 kg of bridging equipment for Border Roads Organsiation (BRO). The heavy lift MI-26 helicopter will also be airlifting the heavy equipment of BRO to facilitate road repair and construction work.