FLOOD-HIT UTTARAKHAND
(73,000
rescued, 40,000 still stranded in Uttarakhand)
Rescuers
were on Saturday ,22nd June,2013,racing against time to reach out to
1000 stranded pilgrims sighted in the gorges and ravines between Kedarnath and
Gaurikund as 17 foreign tourists were evacuated from flood-hit Dharasu in
Uttarkashi district.Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, who arrived in the
Uttarakhand capital to review rescue efforts with Chief Minister Vijay
Bahuguna, said operations are underway on a war-footing to evacuate about
40,000 pilgrims stranded in various places and set a three-day deadline to the
agencies involved to complete the evacuation process.The death toll in flash
floods and landslides in Uttarakhand crossed 550 on Friday and was expected to rise
as an eight-member team of experts is being sent to Kedarnath shrine to take a
count of bodies lying in the temple area.Disaster Management authorities in
Dehradun said that photos of the bodies strewn all over the area will be posted
on the the State government’s official websiteOfficials said about 1,000 more
pilgrims stranded in Rambara and Junglechatti areas en route to Kedarnath
shrine in Rudraprayag district were sighted by security forces.
These
people seem to have taken refuge in the gorges and ravines in these areas when
the massive deluge occurred nearly a week ago.Hungry for days, many of those
sighted are ill and and in need of immediate medical care, official sources
said, adding the sick and ailing among them will be evacuated on a priority
basis.Principal Secretary of State Disaster Management Authority said a total
of 73,000 pilgrims and tourists have been rescued till date.Apart from the 40
choppers in operation, the Rajasthan government has also given two choppers and
30 buses for evacuation of pilgrims.The Gujarat government has also put into
operation two chartered planes with a capacity of 140 persons each to ferry
pilgrims from the State stuck in high altitude areas to Ahmedabad.Chopper
operations were hampered early Saturday with overcast conditions delaying the
programme of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who was to undertake an
aerial survey of the affected areas in Rudraprayag, Chamoli and Uttarkashi
districts.A control room for pilgrims from Gujarat has been set up at
Shantikunj Haridwar.
In
Himachal Pradesh, seven foreigners were on Saturday evacuated from Lahaul and
Spiti district even as the State chopper made sorties to high altitude areas in
Pooh, Tabo and Nako to airlift people stranded in rain-ravaged Kinnaur district
for the past eight days.The sorties would continue till the evening to evacuate
maximum number of stranded people, State officials said.The exact number of
people stuck up in these areas is yet to be ascertained as reports of more
people stranded in remote areas are still pouring in.Most of the link roads and
Hindustan-Tibet National Highway was blocked at numerous places due to
landslides and breaches and a large number of vehicles are stranded in the
district.The situation was improving in Uttar Pradesh as there was no fresh
rainfall. While Sharda and Ghaghra have registered a downward trend, the River
Ganga was rising all along its route from Fatehgarh to Ballia.River Ghaghra,
which was still flowing above the danger mark at Elgin Bridge (Barabanki), was
receding and at Ayodhya and Turtipar, where it has crossed the red mark, it was
static.The Uttar Pradesh Roadways Corporation has started 300 special buses
from Haridwar for the benefit of flood-affected people.
Prof. John Kurakar
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