Dehradun/Shimla, June 20 -With skies clearing, rescue of stranded people and relief operations intensified in the Indian state Uttarakhand where the death toll in the rain and floods shot up to 150 as thousands of pilgrims still remained stranded.
Reports on Wednesday suggested that the famous and ancient Kedarnath shrine feared to have damaged in the flood, is intact notwithstanding the heavy damage all around it in which 50 people died in the landslide that accompanied torrential rain and flash floods.
With rains ceasing in the last two days, there were no fresh incidents of landslides and flooding.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh accompanied by Indian Congress Party president Sonia Gandhimade an aerial survey of the worst-hit areas while Indian Home Secretary RK Singh also undertook a similar mission separately.
Principal Secretary of the state government Om Prakash said the death toll in the state has gone up to 150 but was not in a position to give the exact estimate since several villages in Chamoli and Rudraprayag districts in the upper reaches were still under water.
Vijay Bahuguna, Chief Minister of the state told reporters that he was also not in a position to give the exact estimate of death and destruction which he said was unprecedented in the state.
It would take one year to restore normalcy on the road to Kedarnath from the after effects of the cloud burst which he described as a “Himalayan tsunami”.
The first priority is to rescue the stranded people especially those on pilgrimage from various parts of the country, distribution of medicines and rehabilitation and compensation for the affected, he said.
Disaster Management authorities said in Chamoli that eight bodies were recovered by villagers late Tuesday from Bansinarayan area of Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary.
They seem to have perished on Sunday itself in the downpour that lashed the area while they were in search of Kira Jari, a rare aphrodisiac found in the alpine grassland of the sanctuary.
Chamoli Additional District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar said 1500 pilgrims and locals have been evacuated so far from Ghanghariya, Duendhar and Pulna from near Hemkund Sahib in the district to Joshimath relief camps.
With the improvement in weather many more stranded pilgrims are likely to be evacuated to safety by the evening, he said adding evacuation of pilgrims from Badrinath is next on their agenda where 12000 persons are still stranded.
1200 persons have also been evacuated from Kedarnath, an official in Rudraprayag said.
The officials said evacuating people to safer places is their priority as recovery of bodies can be taken up later.
Rescue ops in full swing in Himachal Pradesh
The Himachal Pradesh government Wednesday continued its operations to airlift tourists stranded for the past four days in Kinnaur district, which has been entirely cut off following landslides, an official said here.
Seventy-seven sick, old and women tourists were evacuated from Sangla, Pooh, Kaza and Rekong Peo, the district headquarters, by a state-run helicopter, Special Secretary (Revenue) Amandeep Garg told IANS.
He said in the past two days, 253 tourists were evacuated.
Official sources said over 1,100 tourists, mainly from West Bengal, are still stranded across the district, mainly in the Sangla Valley and Pooh.
“But we have got 360 requests from the stranded tourists and the locals. Out of these, 253 have been rescued,” Garg, who is monitoring relief and rescue operations, said.
However, the Indian Air Force, which has deployed two choppers Tuesday, could not conduct sorties till Wednesday afternoon, owing to non-availability of aviation fuel in Shimla, an official said.
Incessant rainfall in the region over the past few days triggered massive landslides that blocked most of the roads in this remote district.
Superintendent of Police G. Shiva Kumar, based in Rekong Peo, said 14 people have been killed, including five members of a family, in landslide and rain-related incidents in the district since Sunday.
“The road clearing operation Wednesday speeded up, as the weather remained clear throughout the day. But still, it would take more than a week to reopen all major roads,” he said.
The Hindustan-Tibet Road leading to the China border along Kinnaur is blocked at several locations, officials said.
Meanwhile, UPA chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi Wednesday telephoned Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who was also stranded in Sangla for over 60 hours and airlifted Tuesday, and expressed grief at the loss of lives and property.
Besides, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde in a telephonic conversation with Virbhadra Singh, assured him of all necessary help from the government of India over the loss of life and property in the state.
The chief minister requested Shinde for adequate central assistance to cope with the loss, an official statement said.
– INDIA TODAY
