The exact number of people dead or washed away in the Uttarakhand floods may never be known, chief minister Vijay Bahuguna said on Sunday, as the blame game over the devastation in the hill state escalated Sunday with the meteorological department saying it had issued “timely” warnings of heavy rains and landslides, while the state government claimed these were not “specific”.
“We will never know the exact number of those dead and the number of people who have been buried or washed away,” Mr Bahuguna said while speaking to news agencies. Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal had earlier claimed that the number of those killed could well breach the 10,000 mark, but the CM said the figure was incorrect. “There are 500-600 bodies which are visible, not only in the Kedarnath area but in the entire state,” Mr Bahuguna said.
It is learnt, meanwhile, that 900 stranded pilgrims and local residents in Badrinath are yet left to be evacuated, and 3,000 people still remain missing. Altogether 1,489 pilgrims were taken to safety from Badrinath on Sunday — 874 by air and 615 by road, an Uttarakhand official said, adding that 300 pilgrims and 600 locals remained in the holy town with adequate food and medical care.
From Sunday morning till 6 pm, the Indian Air Force airlifted 749 persons and flew 93 sorties, while dropping or landing about 12,000 kg of relief material and equipment. Since June 17, the IAF has airlifted a total of 18,424 persons, while flying a total of 2,137 sorties, and dropping/ landing 3,36,930 kg of relief material and equipment, an official said.
Assertions by the meteorological department and the state government in the wake of the floods have come amid questions on whether the state administration had ignored warnings and whether large-scale deaths in the hill state could have been averted. The state government claimed there was no sufficient prior indication of a “crisis of this magnitude”.
Uttarakhand met department director Anand Sharma said, however, that they had issued advisories from June 14 for the next couple of days, and had even suggested that the “Char Dham Yatra” — covering the holy towns of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Yamunotri and Gangotri — be postponed for four to five days. “From 14th, we had started giving the heavy rainfall warning... For 15th we had issued a warning of very heavy rains... And we also said ... you could postpone the yatra for 4-5 days.. On 16th, we said heavy to very heavy rainfall, and had specifically highlighted the regions,” he said.
Uttarakhand chief secretary Subash Kumar, however, tried to contest the met official’s remarks. “I have been observing this since the last 10 to 15 years. They (met officials) always claim it will rain heavily... But the intensity of rain we had this time... we had no such specific warnings. They had not asked to put the yatra on hold. They had simply forecast heavy rains,” he added.
Mr Sharma clarified that warnings cannot be specific. “Our warnings cannot be so specific. Heavy to very heavy rains coupled with landslides at places is not enough to suggest that there is going to be crisis of this magnitude,” he said.
On the causes behind the massive loss of human life and property, Mr Sharma said this can happen despite met department warnings. “It is difficult to anticipate how the situation will unfold in such circumstances,” he said. He said the state met office had warned that people should avoid going to the hills and those already in the higher reaches should move to safer places, but conceded that such warnings were of little help to people already on the move with little access to any form of communication.
“The disaster management authorities here were aware of the warnings. Who am I to say if the state government had acted on the warnings or not,” Mr Sharma said when asked if the state government had failed to act promptly on advisories.
Uttarakhand’s disaster management minister Yashpal Arya admitted the met office had issued warnings, but said there was little the authorities could do because of the extent of the calamity as lakhs of people were scattered. He said: “We had prior information. But there was no visible indication of a crisis of this magnitude... Lakhs of people were in different places. What could have the department done? We did our best, and we will keep doing it.”
The chief minister, Mr Bahuguna, dismissed criticism about the state government’s handling of the situation and suggestions that it was a manmade disaster. “For the victims of my state we will give compensation and put them on the fast track,” he said. Those from other states should lodge complaints with their respective state governments, he said. “If the states confirm to Uttarakhand that people from their states had come on pilgrimage here and that these number of pilgrims should be presumed dead and had not come back, we will accept their version and the compensation amount will be paid to the respective chief secretaries for distribution to the victims,” he said.
“There is a DIG-rank officer (Mr Gunjiyal) up there in Kedarnath (who) has been assigned the task of cremation of bodies. The process of cremation is on. A number of bodies are stuck in buildings where they (people) were living, but for them (to be extricated) you require some machines. Some JCB machines are being made available,” Mr Bahuguna said.
The CM said a 200-member team comprising officials of various departments, including police, health, animal
husbandry and sanitation, was being sent along with equipment provided by the NDRF to both Kedarnath and Rambada to extricate bodies from the debris. The last rites of those killed in Rambada is also likely to start in a couple of days, he told reporters after a meeting of top officials to review the situation in the flood-ravaged state.
The Centre on Sunday also pledged all possible help for the relief and rehabilitation of displaced people in the state, and said it will do its best to bring back normality. “People who are displaced will be rehabilitated. We will do whatever has to be done,” new Union home secretary Anil Goswami told reporters soon after taking charge on Sunday.
He said relief and rehabilitation will take time. “Tourists
and pilgrims always keep going there,” he said. The home secretary said initially there would be problems for everyone as many lives had been lost and many were still missing. “There will be problems. But we will do it. We need to speak to the Uttarakhand government and get solutions,” he said.