Do not lose hope, just hang in there: NAK Browne

The death toll from the floods and landslides in Uttarakhand was put at 670 by the state government on Monday. However, it is likely to top 1,000, as many bodies, likely washed away downstream and buried under debris, are yet to be found.

Besides fresh rains hampered the search for some 15,000 mainly pilgrims and tourists still stranded nine days after the disaster struck.

“The official information with us is that about 1,000 people have died,” Yashpal Arya, the disaster relief minister for Uttarakhand, told a news agency. The state government is expected to conduct a mass funeral for victims.

Rescue agencies, primarily the Army, the Indian Air Force (IAF), the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been working against time to bring to safety as many people as possible after heavy rains, cloudbursts and landslides sweeped away entire villages and pilgrim centres in the state on June 15-16. More than 80,000 people have been rescued so far.

A landslide late on Sunday and new landslides on Monday on the Rishikesh – Rudraprayag road blocked major routes that were being used to evacuate people. Army and air force choppers stood on deserted tarmacs as heavy rains swept through several parts of the state on Monday morning. The bleak conditions, failed to dampen the air force mood, which issued a strongly-worded statement. “Our (helicopter) rotors will not stop churning till such time we get each one of you out, do not lose hope and hang in there,” said air chief marshal and chief of the air staff NAK Browne.

The army constructed a heli-bridge and the Burma foot bridge at Lam Bagar on Joshimath – Badrinath road, enabling 800 people to move towards Joshimath.

The army’s aviators challenged weather in Badrinath Valley, where nearly 5,000 people are awaiting help, to transport people in inclement weather conditions.

In the Uttarkashi sector, MI-17 helicopters made 16 sorties, evacuating 402 people from Harsil. Another 683 people reached Uttarkashi by foot. In Kedarnath, troops with mountaineering skills continued the search for stranded people between Jungle Chatti and Rama Bara. Intensive combing operations were on till reports last came in.

The army has established food distribution centres at Govindghat and Joshimath and accommodated many stranded people in makeshift camps. Among those awaiting evacuation are 1,400 people in Harsil, 50 in Dharali and 60 at Jhala on the Uttarkashi axis alone.

Complementing the work of the defence forces, defence minister AK Antony reviewed the rescue operations with the three service chiefs, national security advisor, the defence secretary and the director general of Border Roads Organisation.

The Centre also asked the Uttarakhand government to disallow any other state or agency from carrying out unilateral rescue work.
—With agency inputs