JULY 1- Nearly 1 lakh 10 thousand people have been evacuated by the security forces and rescue team so far in flood-hit Uttarakhand.
As the rescue work concludes on Monday there is a final race against time to save another two thousand people reportedly stranded on the upper reaches.
According to Uttarakhand government report a total of 1,07,670 people have been rescued till date and 1,514 people were evacuated from Harsil and Badrinath by helicopters and by roads.
To add to the despair, there is still no clarity on the exact number of the dead. While the state Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal claimed that it may cross 10,000 Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde pegged it at 900 till Friday night.
Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna trashed the 10,000 toll figure and claimed over 1,000 people have perished. Efforts are being made on a war-footing to ensure supply of essential relief material to over 600 villages in Rudraprayag, Chamoli and Uttarkashi.
Indian Air Force on Sunday airlifted over 18,000 people and dropped more than 3 lakh kg of relief material in flood-hit Uttarakhand since June 17 in its biggest ever helicopter operation for rescue and relief in the state.
“IAF has airlifted a total of 18,424 persons, flying a total of 2,137 sorties and dropping/landing a total of 3,36,930 kgs of relief material and equipment,” it said in a statement on Sunday.
M Sashidhar Reddy, vice chairman of National Disaster Management Authority, said 739 villages of Uttarakhand were badly affected but 80 per cent of telecommunication services have been restored. Over 100 satellite phones were also being used for communication.
INDIA TODAY
