A day after the helicopter crash that killed all 20 on board, IAF men braved bad weather and evacuated hundreds of trapped pilgrims in Uttarakhand on Wednesday.
Also, with the threat of epidemic looming large, mass cremation of bodies finally began in Kedarnath, even as 4,500 people waited to be rescued 11 days after the disaster.
“The cremation of bodies in Kedarnath which was being put off again and again for the past two days due to bad weather was finally taken up this afternoon,” IAS officer Ravinath Raman said from Guptkashi. However, the number of bodies cremated was not immediately known.
Meanwhile, a team of forensic experts is collecting DNA samples of the unclaimed bodies and making a database for identification.
“We will be collecting DNA samples of the dead bodies. Mainly we will be extracting hair with the root, a piece of skin and teeth. We will make a database of the data gathered, and then begin with the identification process,” Dr Dayal Saran said.
Meanwhile, stepping up the evacuation drive, IAF planes airlifted two steel bridges from Pathankot and installed them near Badrinath and Sonprayag. These bridges coupled with airlift operations will help in rescuing the remaining 4,500 pilgrims stranded in Badrinath and Harsil in the next one or two days.
With the Army installing one bridge at lambagar near Badrinath, light vehicles plying on it ferried more than 650 pilgrims. The second bridge at Sonprayag will be operational by Thursday and enable the stranded pilgrims from Harsil to reach safety. More than 250 pilgrims were airlifted from Harsil by Army helicopters in 12 sorties.
Intermittent rains and cloud cover hampered flying operations, but IAF managed to carry out 65 sorties and rescued 630 pilgrims from various parts of the State, officials said here on Wednesday.
IAF chief NAK Browne visited the site near Gaurikund where the MI-17V5 helicopter crashed on Tuesday and exhorted his men that “we owe it to the people we have lost, to sustain the mission and complete it successfully.”
In an effort to boost the morale of the IAF men engaged in rescue missions, he told them: “I need to see you boys smiling.” Talking to reporters at Gauchar helipad, the Air Chief said: “I also told them they need to keep moving forward.”
Browne also met the
officials and troops of the Army, Indo-Tibetan Border Police and National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) and stayed at the
helipad for close to an hour before flying back to Dehradun.
He said a squad of Garuda commandos of the IAF had located the wreckage of the Mi-17V5 helicopter and recovered its cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder. The recorder will enable the court of enquiry to ascertain the cause of the mishap and Browne said at this juncture it would be premature for him to comment on the possible reason for the crash.
Browne said he was informed there were no survivors among the 20 people on board - five from the IAF, six from the ITBP and nine from the NDRF. Asked if the envelope of safety was pushed during the rescue mission, he said: “I won’t say that anything was pushed... In the mountains, especially during the monsoon, weather is always an issue. But, at this point of time, we are not quite sure if it was the weather or a technical problem (that led to the crash).”
Browne said if the IAF gets three to four days of good weather, it will be able to complete its mission.
“If the weather starts improving by Friday or so, then by Monday, Tuesday we should have all this (task) finished,” he said.
“The operations are going to continue. In fact, most of the work has already been done. It is now a question of getting the people out from Badrinath and Harsil sector,” he added.
President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed shock over the loss of lives in the helicopter crash.
Expressing grief over the loss of lives in the IAF chopper crash in Uttarakhand, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the kin of the security personnel killed in the mishap. Bahuguna also declared a day of State mourning to condole the death of brave soldiers.
In an effort to reach out to the people, Army Central Command launched a website “Suryahope.in” which gives minute-to-minute updates on Army operations across Uttarakhand, location wise data of people stranded at various places, list of rescued people, helpline numbers, latest news about flood victims and provides links to the
Uttarakhand Government website and Google sites giving information on the flood affected people.
Officials said Army search operations in Jungle Chatti continued for the third day near Kedarnath and no stranded pilgrims were found in this area. A team of veterinary doctors treated more than 100 animals on Wednesday on the Hemkund axis. The animals got stranded after the bridge at Govind Ghat got washed away.
More than 7,000 Army personnel are deployed across Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Rudraprayag and Pithoragarh districts of Uttarakhand for the past ten days and have so far evacuated more than 33,000 people since June 17. 13 Army Aviation helicopters conducted 600 sorties to evacuate 2,715 people and ferry 24 tons of food, fuel, medicines, blankets and relief material to the people. Similarly, the IAF has carried out more than 1,540 sorties since floods hit the State and airlifted 13,052 pilgrims.
Meanwhile, Border Roads Organisation (BRO) continued its efforts to restore road connectivity in Uttarakhand and managed to clear several main roads blocked by fresh landslides on Monday and Tuesday triggered by rains.
The Rishikesh - Uttarkashi road was blocked by landslides at several places on Tuesday which were opened the same day. Similarly the Rishikesh - Joshimath - Badrinath axis was also blocked at two points due to water logging and fresh landslides and breaches and they were restored the same day, officials said.
The road up to Uttarkashi is opened and the BRO has deployed heavy machinery to repair the road near Dharashu. Beyond Uttarkashi, there are road breaches at as many as 30 locations and work was on to repair the road. Clearance work also started from Gangotri and the road was opened up to Harsil. Efforts are on to open the road between Uttarkashi and Harsil which has suffered major damages. The BRO has made several foot tracks to help stranded passengers and also provided shelters food and transportation to pilgrims.
Defence Minister AK Antony also reviewed the pace of repair work, especially the strategic road network as Uttarakhand shares its border with China.
Known as middle sector of line of Actual Control (lAC), Uttarakhand shares near half of the 450 km sector with Himachal Pradesh and some strategic roads were also damaged in the flash floods, officials said.
United efforts
— A team of forensic experts is collecting DNA samples of the unclaimed bodies and making a database for identification
— IAF planes airlifted two steel bridges from Pathankot and installed them near Badrinath and Sonprayag
— After the Army installed one bridge at lambagar; light vehicles plying on it ferried more than 650 pilgrims
— IAF managed to carry out 65 sorties and rescued 630 pilgrims
— Wreckage of Mi-17V5 helicopter, cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder recovered by Garuda commandos
— Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna announced a compensation of Rs10 lakh to kin of security personnel killed in the mishap
— Bahuguna also declared a day of State mourning to condole the death of brave soldiers
— Army Central Command launched a website Suryahope.in which gives updates on Army operations across Uttarakhand
— BRO cleared several main roads blocked by fresh landslides
— Defence Minister AK Antony also reviewed pace of road repair work