Next 24 hours crucial for Uttarakhand rescue operations: ITBP

The next 24 hours will be crucial for the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) force to carry out rescue operations in flood-ravaged Uttarakhand, as it is anticipated that the weather may take a turn for the worse.

ITBP spokesperson Deepak Pandey was quoted by media, as saying that the force is still constructing more tracks to rescue more people.

He said ITBP and other forces are engaged in evacuation operations and are using all resources available to them to intensify the process.

Meanwhile, apart from the 1000 people rescued from Gaurikund on Saturday morning, security forces also rescued 17 foreign tourists from Dharasu.

About 32000 people are still stranded at different places spread over flood affected districts. Officials have confirmed the death toll to be 556 so far.

An official spokesperson has said that evacuation of stranded people from the Kedarnath temple area, Hemkund and Ghangharia would be completed today.

Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, who arrived in Dehradun this morning for an aerial survey of the affected areas, said the Centre will provide all possible help to the Uttarakhand Government for rescue and relief operations in flood and cloud burst affected areas of the state.

Shinde expressed the hope that all the stranded people in the flood-hit areas will to be rescued in the next one or two days. He said the evacuation process has been taken up on a war footing.

Shinde rejected the opposition's demand to declare the situation as a national calamity, as he believed it made no difference so far the relief and rescue operations are concerned.

He asked political parties not to indulge in politics on the situation, which was essentially a man-made disaster that required proper coordination between rescue and relief operation agencies.

Helicopter operations were hampered this morning. Sorties could not take place for evacuation for several hours.

An army spokesperson said an army rescue team has opened an important road link from Sonprayag to Gaurikund which is the base camp for the trek to Kedarnath.

Army para troopers have also reached out to people stuck in between Gaurikund and Rambada. A 70 member army rescue team is now carrying out search operations in the Rambada area.

The Rishikesh-Gangotri road up to Uttarkashi has also been opened.

The state government has set up control rooms in all districts. These include, State Emergency & Operation Centre — 0135-2710334, 9897890981, 9152443853; Dehradun — 0135-2726066, 9412964935; Nainital — 05942-231179, 9456714092; and Rudraprayag — 01364-233727, 9412914875 and 8859504022.

The Uttar Pradesh government has made arrangements for transportation of its natives who are stranded by recent floods and landslides in Uttrakhand.

Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has instructed the UP State Road Transport Corporation to deploy its officials in Uttrakhand at the places where rescued persons are brought in by helicopters, to facilitate their safe and speedy return.