Uttarakhand The Rescue Operation
Uttrakhand state government said that Rudraprayag was the worst affected district and about 500 roads and 175 bridges have been washed out in flash floods in different parts of the state. State Government has set up helpline numbers at Dehradun to provide information about flood-hit areas and people.
The helpline numbers are 0135-2717300, 2716201, 2710925, 09411112985 and 09412054085.
The state Government has also put up the names of people rescued from flood-hit areas on the state Police websitehttp://www.uttarakhandpolice.uk.gov.in.
The state Government has also put up the names of people rescued from flood-hit areas on the state Police websitehttp://www.uttarakhandpolice.uk.gov.in.
Private Helicopters stranded at Dehradun do not have the permission to fly for help of victims at devastated Uttarakhand as per the reports on E Channels. However the government is working on war footing in Uttarakhand, the army has begun air evacuation of isolated pockets along Govindghat -Badrinath road and Ghagriya -Hemkund track. Nine Army helicopters have been pressed into service and an additional six helicopters would be operational from today. The Army has conducted two days of uninterrupted humanitarian assistance to stranded people in Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Rudraprayag and Pithoragarh districts. Most of the roads and many villages are still submerged in water, make journey difficult to the devastated state, rescue operations are moving with the help of para military and army units. Army has also inducted 12 medical teams and opened an emergency medical helpline. Over 10,000 personnel of the armed forces have been deployed for relief and rescue operations in the stateReports suggested that the famous Kedarnath shrine, where 50 people died in the landslide that accompanied torrential rain and flash floods, is intact notwithstanding the heavy damage all around.
With clear sky in the last two days, no fresh incidents of landslides and flooding. Accompanied by Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made an aerial survey of the worst-hit areas while Union Home Secretary RK Singh also undertook a similar mission separately.
Uttarakhand Principal Secretary 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.
Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna 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.
The Chief Minister said very heavy casualties are feared, electric poles have been uprooted and several roads have been damaged in the calamity, the scale of which was not imagined.
5,000 people are in Gauri Kund. With the weather clearing in most places, operations commenced in full swing to rescue the stranded, especially in Badrinath shrine where 12,000 pilgrims are still stuck. While 1,500 pilgrims and locals were rescued from in Chamoli district, 1,200 stranded tourists were evacuated in Rudraprayag.
Officials said that evacuating people to safer places was their priority as recovery of bodies can be taken up later.
On the steps being initiated by the government to provide succour to the victims, Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said in New Delhi that IAF helicopters have been deployed to evacuate stranded people from Gaurikund while a control centre has been established in Badrinath.
“Fourteen teams comprising 540 persons of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed in Uttarakhand. 62,790 people are stranded in Uttarakhand. 5,000 people have been rescued by the Army,” Shinde said.
Rescue operations were also on in rain-ravaged tribal Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh for the second day on Wednesday and one state and two IAF choppers were evacuating stranded people at various points in Kinnaur district and adjoining Kaza area of Spiti.
“The exact number of people stranded at various places is not known, but the priority is to evacuate tourists and the aged and ailing persons first,” HP Principal Secretary (Home), Tarun Sridhar said.
ITBP DG Ajay Chadha said that it was difficult to give exact figures of those rescued as a number of agencies were involved in the relief efforts.
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