Day after tomorrow: Men in uniform to finish rescue work in Uttarakhand on Friday

Rescue and government agencies will work to rehabilitate locals in flood-hit Uttarakhand districts when rescue operations are completed by the next 48 hours. With about 5,000 remaining stranded, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) expects rescue operations to end by Friday.

“We will complete our rescue operations in the next two days,” said NDMA vice chairman Shashidhar Reddy. “There is 10 feet high debris in Kedarnath and several bodies are likely buried under. Chances of finding any survivors there are next to impossible,” said Reddy. The last rites of the victims found in Kedarnath will be performed by June 28.

Nearly 97,000 people have been evacuated from Uttarakhand after cloudbursts caused massive floods and landslides in several districts on June 15-16. The rain of water and boulders washed away entire towns, bridges and roads; government officials say 560 people have perished, but unofficially they concede that the toll may go over 1,000 as many bodies have not yet been found.

On Wednesday, officials recovered the bodies of 17 people who died in the chopper crash. Five of these were from the Indian Air Force, six from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and nine from National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF).

“Twenty warriors have died. It is a loss for the entire nation,” Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne said. “It is difficult to say at the moment how the chopper crashed, if it was because of a technical fault or poor weather conditions.” he said. The cockpit recorder has been found.

Undeterred by the loss, the IAF continued their operation on Wednesday, flying 64 sorties and airlifting 636 people. The focus is on evacuating people from Joshimath and Badrinath regions, two places that have the maximum number of stranded victims. About 3,500 people remain in Harsil and Badrinath. Nearly 500 people were evacuated by air from Harsil while 800 were moved from Badrinath.

Meanwhile, the army has launched a website www.suryahopes.in to provide updates on army operations in the region. The website will carry location-wise data of people stranded at various places, list of rescued people, helpline numbers, latest information about flood victims and important web links.