Uttarakhand floods: 2,403 pilgrims evacuated; 8,000 still stranded

Rescuers on Tuesday evacuated 2,403 pilgrims stranded in the mountainous regions of flood-hit Uttarakhand even as 19 persons, including IAF and paramilitary personnel, were feared killed in a chopper crash near Gaurikund.

Nearly 8,000 persons are still stranded — most of them at Harsil and Badrinath — as rescue operations continued full swing with Border Roads Organisation completing construction of a bridge at Pandukeshwar which would facilitate evacuation of those stuck at Badrinath.

Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth reviewed the rescue operations at a meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee which was attended by secretaries of 10 ministries concerned as well as senior officers of the Army, Air Force, ITBP, NDRF and BRO who have been involved in rescue efforts.

Braving inclement weather, the Indian Air Force conducted 53 sorties to air evacuate 535 persons stranded at various places in the flood-hit areas.

The IAF lost one Mi-17 V5 helicopter in a crash during the rescue operations in Gaurikund in which 19 persons, including officers of the Air Force, were feared killed.

The Army was able to evacuate through the land route 895 persons from Badrinath and 338 from Harsil areas while the Indo-Tibetan Border Police evacuated 600 persons on the land route from the Badrinath.

The National Disaster Response Force evacuated 35 persons most of whom were sadhus and porters from the Kedarnath and other areas.

BRO personnel were engaged in clearing roads landslides that have occurred in the region since yesterday.

The route from Rudraprayag to Uttarkashi has been cleared as well as the sector from Rishikesh to Srinagar and Joshimath.

"A bridge at Pandukeshwar is almost complete. This will facilitate evacuation of those stranded in Badrinath," an official release said.

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry has despatched over 42,000 LPG cylinders to the affected areas and was ensuring enough stocks of ATF at Gauchar and Dharasu for use by the IAF for carrying out rescue operations.

BSNL services in the state were almost normal with the restoration of most of the towers and the telephone exchanges.

Private telecom operators have been asked to expedite their work so that their services could also be restored at the earliest.

The Health Ministry has despatched four teams from NIMHANS to help the state government with counselling and related activities.