Rescue efforts in flood-ravaged Uttarakhand are in the last phase with the Army and the IAF on Saturday bringing out more than 1,000 pilgrims from Badrinath and Harsil to safer places. The remaining 1,500 stranded people are likely to be evacuated on Sunday even as the focus is now shifting to rebuild shattered roads and infrastructure. As many as 259 roads in Tehri, 139 in Dehradun, 132 in Uttarkashi, 110 in Chamoli and 71 in Rudraprayag district have been damaged due to the massive floods.
Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said the death toll is around 900 so far. “So far, 1.05 lakh people have been rescued and 52 bodies have been cremated,” he said.
However, Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal feared that the casualties may cross the 10,000-mark. Intriguingly, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), which is assisting in the rescue and relief operations, put the death toll at 580 till Friday.
A team of five experts from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) will visit the Kedarnath temple to assess the quantum of damage caused by the floods. The team is likely to be air-dropped there on Sunday. As of now, Kedarnath temple is not a protected site under the ASI and the State Government sought its help to assess the damage. The ASI will submit its report to the Chief Minister.
Kedarnath Valley is one of the worst-affected places and at one point of time more than 40,000 pilgrims were trapped there when the floods hit the region on June 16. The area is now clear with the Army and IAF rescuing all the pilgrims.
The State Government on Saturday asked over 200 families living along the banks of Bhagirathi River to move to safer places following a rise in the water level. The Uttarakhand Meteorological Department, however, said that there was no flood threat and that the water level was rising due to melting of glaciers.
Uttarakhand Meteorological Department chief Anand Sharma said snow in the upper reaches was melting with the sun coming out, and this was increasing the water level in rivers.
He asserted there is “nothing to worry about, as it will not create any flood situation. We are just expecting light showers, but no heavy rains, nothing of that sort, just light showers here and there.”
In Almora, Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker Kunjwal said: “Earlier when I returned from a tour of Garhwal region I believed the casualty figure could be 4,000 to 5,000. But now as per my information and bodies being seen by the people, I can say the figure can cross the 10,000 mark.” However, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has so far maintained that 1,000 people may have died and the exact death toll will be known only after the debris is removed.
With the threat of an epidemic outbreak looming large due to decaying bodies buried under debris, and some also flowing down the Ganga, teams of doctors are now in affected districts to initiate remedial action, officials said.
Giving details about the rescue operations, officials said bad weather hampered helicopter operations on Saturday morning and 26 IAF helicopters could resume flying only later to evacuate more than 850 pilgrims from Badrinath and the last batch of 12 pilgrims from Harsil. Harsil is completely free of pilgrims now, they said adding operations will continue in Badrinath sector for the next two days.
The Army also rescued 600 pilgrims from Badrinath and Harsil with the help of helicopters and on foot as the road between Badrinath and Joshimath is now operational, officials said.
The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) had successfully constructed two bridges on river Alaknanda and Sonprayag. These bridges can be used by light vehicles and the Army is urging stranded locals and pilgrims to use these bridges.
Officials also said the IAF will start phased de-induction of its helicopters and aircraft from Uttarakhand late next week. At the peak of rescue operations, more than 50 aircraft were deployed and the figure now stands at 30. IAF and Army Aviation Corps helicopters flew more than 2,500 sorties since they were inducted for rescue operations on June 17 and rescued 20,000 people.
The IAF plans to station more than ten helicopters for the next one month or so in areas like Gauchar and Dharasu to assist the State administration in airlifting relief material to far-flung places which are cut off due to damaged roads and look for any stranded people.
The IAF also flew the bodies of all the 20 personnel killed on Tuesday to their native places for last rites by their families. A Mi-17 V5 helicopter, on a rescue mission with five IAF crew and 15 ITBP personnel on board, had crashed near Kedar Valley killing everyone on board.
Meanwhile, efforts are on to ensure supply of essential relief material to over 600 villages in Rudraprayag, Chamoli and Uttarkashi districts, which are cut off after the floods.
The State administration, with the help of the IAF and Army has dispatched more than 2,379 metric tons of wheat and 2,875 metric tons of rice to these places, officials said.