Centre rushing more helicopters to Uttarakhand for rescue ops

Government has decided to deploy more helicopters in Uttarakhand to rescue over 60,000 people still trapped in the rain-ravaged hill state and expedite relief operations.

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said so far 22 helicopters have been used to evacuate stranded people to safer locations and through hundreds of sorties they rescued 22,392 people.

"But 22 helicopters are not enough. So, we have requested the Defence Ministry to deploy more helicopters to expedite the rescue operations in Uttarakhand. The Defence Ministry agreed to our request and hopefully the additional choppers will be deployed soon," he told reporters here.

According to the Home Ministry, around 62,122 people are still stranded in different inaccessible locations in the flood-ravaged Uttarakhand.

Asked whether the death toll in Uttarakhand could go up, the Home Minister said he has spoken to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna who conveyed that it was difficult to tell the exact number of people who died since all debris have not been cleared yet.

"It may go up. But we cannot say now," he said.

Shinde said due to bad weather this morning, rescue operation has been hit in Uttarakhand.

He said he has convened a high-level meeting tomorrow to take stock of the relief and rescue operations. Representatives of Ministries of Home, Defence, Food, National Disaster Management Authority and other stake holders will attend the meeting.

According to the latest situational report sent to the Home Ministry summarising progress of rescue and relief operations, 13 teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) consisting of 422 personnel and 3,000 personnel of ITBP, besides hundreds of Army personnel are engaged in rescue works in Uttarakhand.

Daily meetings under the chairmanship of Home Secretary R K Singh are being held on to review the situation and the relief and rescue measures being undertaken in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, an official statement said.

Senior officers of the Ministry of Home Affairs are in constant touch with senior officers concerned of Uttarakhand for extending the required support and assistance.

As per Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), cumulative rainfall of Uttarakhand is reported 385.1 mm actual against normal rainfall of 71.3 mm, which is 440 per cent excess during the south-west monsoon period of June 1 to June 18.

One team of NDRF and one team of ITBP have been placed at Kedarnath and Gaurigaon to assist in the evacuation both from Kedarnath and Gaurigaon. Evacuation operations were carried out yesterday using helicopters till the weather deteriorated.

One team of ITBP operated between Govindghat and Joshimath and evacuated pilgrims stuck there, the statement said.

It was also decided that ITBP would launch teams from Pithoragarh to all the valleys in the district to see if the villagers or stranded persons require any assistance.

As per the reports received from Himachal Pradesh government, due to continuous rainfall in the region during June, severe damage to life and property was caused in several locations in different parts of the state.

The search, rescue and relief operations are being carried out with the help of helicopters from Army, Air Force, NDRF, ITBP and state government and there was no shortage of food material.