Stepping up rescue efforts in the flood-ravaged Uttarakhand, the Army has deployed more than 8,000 troops and air-dropped 100 paratroopers in the worst affected area of Kedarnath.
In all, more than 30 helicopters and aircraft belonging to the Army and the IAF have carried out around 160 sorties in the last three days to airlift casualties and provide relief material like food, medicines and blankets.
At least 50 major landslides occurred on just four road stretches in the calamity-torn Uttarakhand during torrential rains between June 15 and 17, and vital road and infrastructure was destroyed, preliminary reports from Uttarakhand to the Central Government said.
landslides occurred at four stretches — Rudraprayag-Gaurikund, Rishikesh-Joshimath-Mana, Rishikesh - Dharasu-Gangotri and Pithoragarh-Ghatiabgarh, officials said on Thursday adding these stretches alone saw 40 major formation breaches.
In its report to the Union Home Ministry, the State Disaster Mitigation and Management Centre has said casualties in the affected areas may run into thousands with about 90 ‘dharamshalas’ (rest houses for pilgrims) having been swept away in the flash floods. However, officially, the toll has been put at 150.
Assisted by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the armed forces have so far rescued 22,000 stranded people out of 62,122 pilgrims and the Army is likely to bring in more troops in the coming days. Similarly, the IAF is also likely to deploy more helicopters besides the 22 choppers now engaged in relief and rescue operations.
Giving these details here on Thursday, officials said the main focus of the operations is now to save lives and repair roads and bridges as soon as possible to enable faster relief work.
The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) is now rebuilding at least 15 arterial roads and five bridges in Kedarnath, Joshimath, Rudraprayag, Pithoraghat and Rishikesh.
With the assistance of 3,000 personnel, BRO on Thursday managed to repair National Highway 94 from Rishikesh to Dharasu and National Highway 108 from Dharasu to Gangotri (upto 30 kms) were opened for light vehicles.
Road connectivity between Rishikesh- Joshimath -Mana opened for traffic for light vehicles. Road from Tanakpur-Pithoragarh-Jauljibi-Tawaghat-Ghatiabgarh partially opened. The road from Tanakpur to Pithoragarh is open while the Pithoragarh-Tawaghat road is open up to 80 kms.
In case of Himachal Pradesh, the road between Wangtu, Pooh-Kaurik suffered breaches at 11 locations, officials said adding seeing the enormity of the damage, many more days are required to restore connectivity.
Officials said the main focus of the Army was now on Kedarnath where an estimated 30,000 pilgrims from all over the country were stranded after the 14 km unpaved track from the last road head at Gauri Kund was washed away.
A team of 30 paratroopers were air dropped from Dhruv advanced light helicopters (AlH) in places around Kedarnath on Thursday afternoon, they said. The paratroopers will locate pilgrims stranded and huddled in small groups along the track and escort them to a safer place, officials said adding the ITBP helipad near Kedarnath was likely to be operational later on Thursday. The helipad was badly damaged in the flash floods and the Army and IAF asked the ITBP to make it functional as soon as possible.
Troops managed to reach over 8,000 people stranded on all four different axis including , Rishikesh, Uttarkashi, Harsil, Gangotri, Rudraprayag, Kedarnath, Joshimath, Badrinath and Dharchhula, Tawaghat in Pithoragarh district.
The Army also opened the road up to Uttarkashi after clearing 16 landslides and the road up to Sonprayag on Kedarnath axis was also opened after repairing a bridge across Vasuki Ganga between Mundkatiya and Sonprayag, officials said adding 2,500 stranded people were evacuated from Sonprayag due to this newly-opened road.
Communication nodes were established at Gaucher, Harsil, Joshimath and Rudraprayag to enable people to contact their families and 30 satellite phones were provided and 20 more were likely to be installed on Friday.
When asked if the death toll could go up from 71, Home Minister SK Shinde said here on Thursday he has spoken to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna who conveyed that it was difficult to tell the exact number of people who died since all the debris has not been cleared yet. “It may go up. But we cannot say now,” he said.
Shinde said he has convened a high-level meeting on Friday to take stock of the relief and rescue operations. Representatives of Ministries of Home, Defence, Food, National Disaster Management Authority and other stakeholders will attend the meeting.
According to the latest situational report sent to the Home Ministry summarizing progress of rescue and relief operations, 13 teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) consisting of 422 personnel and 3,000 personnel of ITBP, besides hundreds of Army personnel are engaged in rescue works in Uttarakhand.
Daily meetings under the chairmanship of Home Secretary RK Singh are held to review the situation and the relief and rescue measures being undertaken in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.
Senior officers of the Ministry of Home Affairs are in constant touch with senior officers of Uttarakhand for extending the required support and assistance.
As per the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), cumulative rainfall in Uttarakhand is reported to be 385.1 mm against the normal rainfall of 71.3 mm, which is 440 per cent excess during the south-west monsoon period of June 1 to June 18.