The Armed Forces continued rescue and relief operations in Uttarakhand despite rains on Monday and managed to reach stranded pilgrims in Badrinath and Harsil and evacuate more than 2,000 people.
The race was now on to rescue the remaining 7,000 to 8,000 people trapped in Badrinath and other places. The evacuation process had slowed down due to inclement weather making it difficult for helicopters to air lift survivors.
On Monday, the Army moved more than 850 pilgrims from Badrinath by land and helicopters to safer places. While 450 of them were rescued through a helicopter bridge, for the rest, it was a painful 10-km walk that included going over a makeshift Burma bridge to lambagar and then Joshimath, officials said. Army helicopters flew in inclement weather in Badri Valley to airlift pilgrims.
Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna said the Army and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) jawans were providing food, medicines and shelter to them adding the “worst is over” and stranded pilgrims were safe. He also said the State Government will start disbursing compensation to the affected people within a week.
Once the rescue work is over, he said the State Government's prime challenge will be to restore the infrastructure that has been damaged in the deluge. This task is expected to take about three years.
Defence Minister AK Antony reviewed the ongoing relief operations along with the three Service chiefs, National Security Adviser and Defence Secretary and assured the nation that rescue efforts will go on till the last survivor is rescued.
In his message to all those stranded in the flood-ravaged State, IAF Chief NAK Browne said: “Our helicopter rotors will not stop churning till such time we get each one of you out, do not lose hope and hang in there.”
Stating that all stranded pilgrims were rescued from Kedarnath and Yamunotri, they said the main focus of the Army and the IAF was now Badrinath and Harsil where nearly 8,000 people were still stranded.
In Uttarkashi sector, MI 17 helicopters made 16 sorties evacuating 402 people from Harsil while 683 people reached Uttarkashi by foot. Following intermittent rainfall on Monday, a number of landslides occurred on the Rishikesh - Rudraprayag road, although the route ahead to Joshimath remained open.
Approximately 1,400 people are awaiting evacuation at Harsil, 50 at Dharali and 60 at Jhala on Uttarkashi axis and approx 5,000 at Badrinath, officials said adding the Army established food distribution centres at Govindghat and Joshimath.
In the Kedarnath sector, Army special troops with mountaineering skills continued search and rescue operations to link up with stranded people, if any, between Jungle Chatti and Ram Bara. Intensive combing operations were on till reports last came in.
Since morning, six MI-17s and one advanced light helicopter operating at the Dharasu-Harsil axis flew more than 52 sorties and airlifted 480 pilgrims. Incidentally, in one of the biggest heli-lift operations since June 17, the IAF has air-lifted a total of 10,731 people flying about 1,163 sorties and dropping/landing about 1,84,262 kg of relief material and equipment.
Meanwhile, ITBP chief Ajay Chadha said it may take another three days to resume rescue efforts due to the rains.
“We can resume the rescue operations once air sorties can be conducted,” he told reporters, adding that the weather was expected to improve by June 28. His men rescued 1,500 pilgrims including six Russian tourists and 16 Americans on Monday.
He said ITBP personnel have so far recovered 125 bodies, while the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) has recovered around 400 so far. “There are about 40-50 sadhus still stuck in the Kedarnath,” he said.
The ITBP has deployed its Netra UAV for search and rescue operations by scanning the terrain in the remote areas of Kedarnath, Bhairav Chotti and Jungle Chotti. There are personnel on the ground to search for any survivor, he said.
Elaborating upon the status of roads, he said connectivity was restored in Pithoragarh and the ITBP team has repaired the route from Badrinath to Hanuman Chatti which is being used for foot rescue operations.
Chadha also said efforts were on to rescue some people stranded in Bhairon Chatti, where the NDRF team is setting up a helipad. The moment it is ready and clouds clear, air rescue will start, he added.