Fearing a rising death toll in the “Himalayan tsunami” of deluge and destruction, the government has launched a massive rescue and relief operation and claims to have evacuated over 33,192 stranded pilgrims from the rain-ravaged state of Uttarakhand.
Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde had earlier in the day put the number of rescued at 22,393 people, with 45 helicopters being deployed by the Army and Air Force to undertake this massive rescue operation.
But the fate of an estimated over 50,000 people. including pilgrims, sadhus and residents still trapped in Kedarnath, Govindghat, Joshimath, Uttarkashi and Srinagar, is not known.
The government knows it must act fast because the India Meteorological Department has warned that from June 23 the weather will take a turn for the worse and it is likely to start raining again.
Kedarnath remains the epicentre of the devastation and continues to be difficult to reach. The Army has heli-dropped troops skilled in mountain rescue operations, including 100 paratroopers and other special troops with specialised equipment, to rescue those stranded near Kedarnath and Badrinath.
Some of the survivors rescued from Kedarnath described the enormity of the destruction. Ravinder Bhatt, a sewak at the Kedarnath temple rescued by the Army, said over 90 dharamshalas and hotels at Kedarnath had been wiped out and there was no news about the 100 priests who performed the puja at the temple shrine. Around 1,000 traders at Ram Bada town, along the pilgrim path, are also missing. Garhwal divisional commissioner Suvardhan cited the number of people missing from Kedarnath as 1,000.
With over 15,000 people stranded at Kedarnath, Govindghat and the Rudraprayag district having been evacuated to relief camps at Joshimath, ITBP chief Ajay Chadha clarified in New Delhi on Thursday that the worst affected Kedarnath temple area had been evacuated of people but “there could still be about 400-500 people in the upper reaches. The Army is expected to launch operations tomorrow to bring these people down.” Mr Chadha added that since the Rambada area, around the famous Kedarnath temple, was “submerged under slush and debris, there could be bodies submerged in it”. He cautioned that it was difficult to give a complete death toll unless bodies are recovered. “There could be a lot of people who were washed away and in such situations eyewitness accounts could sometimes be exaggerated,” he added.
Rescue efforts have also picked up in the rain-battered tribal district of Kinnaur in Himachal Pradesh with three helicopters making several sorties to evacuate 600 tourists.
Those who have been stranded for the last four days claim they have had no access to food and medicine. Nor have any administration officials reached them during this trying period.
Nilesh Anand Bharne, SP, Rudraprayag, insisted on Thursday that although several thousand people were still stranded in Gaurikund, Gaurigaon and other places, food packets were being distributed on a war footing.
Families of missing victims are gathering at the Jolly Grant Airport near Dehra Dun to try and get information about their family members.
The Army Central Command has launched one of its biggest human rescue operations in which the Air Force, the ITBP and the National Disaster Response Force are working together. While troops have been dispatched to evacuate pilgrims from Govindghat and Harsil areas, they have also been sent to the Pindari and Sunderdunga glaciers in Kumaon where scores of people remain stranded.
Army sources warn that the stretch between Gaurikund and Sonaprayag have been totally cut off. The size of the calamity can be gauged from the fact that major landslides have occurred at 31 locations on the Rishikesh-Joshimath-Mana road and at 16 places on the Rishikesh-Dharasu-Gangotri road along with several breaches.
The Army has established communication nodes equipped with satellite phones at Gaucher, Harsil, Joshimath and Rudraprayag so that stranded people can talk to their families. It is also planning to construct a larger helipad at Gagaria, near Hemkund Sahib, to hasten the evacuation of larger numbers of people. The armed forces see connectivity as offering the biggest challenge due to the large-scale destruction of roads and bridges. As an immediate step, the ITBP and the NDRF were trying to repair bridges and roads so that people could be brought down and flown out in small helicopters.
Asked whether the death toll in Uttarakhand could go up, Mr Shinde said at a press conference that he had spoken to Uttarakhand chief minister Vijay Bahuguna who conveyed that it was difficult to come up with an exact figure since all the debris has yet to be cleared. “It may go up. But we cannot say right now,” Mr Shinde said.
A high-level meeting convened by the government will on Friday take stock of relief and rescue operations. Representatives of the ministries of home, defence, food, the National Disaster Management Authority and other stake-holders will be attending the meeting.
NDRF and ITBP teams have been placed on alert at Kedarnath and Gaurigaon and at Govindghat and Joshimath. The ITBP is to launch teams from Pithoragarh on Friday to help local villagers and other stranded people.