INDIA
Rescue efforts likely to end today; government to now focus on missing people and locals in Uttarakhand who have lost everything in the floods.
Although more than 3,000 people are still missing in flood-ravaged Uttarakhand, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the Ministry of Home Affairs said the rescue operations were expected to be over by Friday.
Confirming that the official death toll is 560, NDMA vice chairman M Shashidhar Reddy said: “A total of 2,232 houses have been damaged in the calamity, 1,495 people were evacuated on Thursday and 1,829 are still stranded,” he said.
Sources in the Ministry of Home Affairs said the rescue efforts were likely to be over by Friday and the government would now focus on missing people and the locals who have been affected by the floods.
Accompanied by Reddy, home minister Sushilkumar Shinde is likely to visit Uttarakhand on Friday to take stock of the relief work in the hill state. Army Chief General Bikram Singh will also visit Gauchar and Joshimath, where more than 5,000 army personnel are engaged in relief and rescue operation.
Meanwhile, rescue efforts continued in various parts of Uttarakhand. The IAF said more than 1,300 people — 600 each from Badrinath and Harsil — were rescued on Thursday and all bodies had been recovered from the chopper crash in which 20 security forces personnel died on Tuesday.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out 84 sorties and landing approximately 4,600 kg of relief material. Since 17 June, the IAF in ‘Op Rahat’ has airlifted a total of 14,748 persons, flying a total of 1,703 sorties. Army Commander Central Command Lt Gen Anil Chait accompanied 500 people, who were moving by foot from Badrinath to Joshimath.
About 2,500 people are still feared stranded in Badrinath.
Medical teams are in Kedarnath to collect DNA samples and photograph the bodies. Amid fears of epidemic outbreak, the mass cremation process in Kedarnath, which was worst-hit in the Uttarakhand flash floods, was expedited on Friday. Evacuation of stranded pilgrims continued from both Badrinath and Harsil.
A total of 532 stranded people were evacuated on Thursday by air from Harsil but 100 to 150 locals are still stranded there. All pilgrims have been evacuated from Harsil. At least 450 people were airlifted from Badrinath on Thursday.
According to army the rescue efforts are on in Pithoragarh district of Kumaon region of Uttarakhand --100 people were evacuated from isolated places and cut off areas and were brought to Dharchula. Hemkund axis has been cleared of all pilgrims.
Donate
Puneites open hearts and purses
Even as rescue operations are going on in full swing in Uttarakhand, Pune is on its toes to collect money and relief materials for the flood-hit people.
The first NGO group from Pune to reach Ground Zero was a group of four experts from Maitri, which has collected tonnes of relief materials for Uttarakhand locals.
“The most common items people donated were clothes and bedsheets. After receiving the report from our team there, we are now appealing for tarpaulin sheets, flex and plastic sheets to help locals set up temporary tents. We also need gunny bags and cartons to pack relief materials,” said Leenata Vaidya, an office-bearer.
Not just NGOs but others too have chipped in.
Vikas Plakkot and his friends started a drive to collect household items and clothes for Mumbai-based NGO Goonj which will be sending relief materials to Uttarakhand. “We have around 300 blankets, clothes, utensils, basic medicines and ration. We are looking for volunteers who can help transport them to Mumbai,” Plakkot said.
NGO Aarogya Sena is helping out by sending a medical team to Uttarakhand and has appealed for donations and medical supplies. International Human Rights Protection Bureau (IHRPB) is sending a team of volunteers for rescue work. “The first batch of 10 volunteers is likely to leave today or tomorrow,” said Kailash Gaikwad, president of Pune chapter of IHRPB.
On Thursday, a massive rally was organised by Maharashtra Cosmopolitan Education Society to collect donations. It has aimed to raise Rs50lakh within eight days. “The money will be donated to the PM’s Relief Fund and our counter at Azam College will open for five days for all those who wish to donate,” said an official.
Organise
Chavan’s Maha helping hand
While Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi has invited flak for rescuing only the people of his state, Maharashtra chief minister has been praised for his constructive suggestions for the rescue work in Uttarakhand.
Prithviraj Chavan camped in Delhi and even Dehradun to organise rescue operations of the Maharashtrians in Uttarakhand.
“Not only did he station himself in Delhi and Uttarakhand, he gave several important suggestions, which was accepted by the officials and Uttarakhand chief minister Vijay Bahuguna. This helped clear some of the confusion in the rescue and smoothened the process of rescue operations,” said an official of Maharashtra government.
To prevent the mad scramble to get into helicopters, Chavan suggested that a coupon system be put in place. The stranded people are given coupons giving priority to the old, children and women. This was accepted by those carrying out rescue operations.
“After all states started sending helicopters for rescue operations resulting in chaos, Chavan suggested that the helicopters be pooled and let the Uttarakhand government decide on how to use them. This prevented states from rescuing only their people,” said an official.
Chavan also suggested that the Mi 7 helicopters be used in the operations as they can carry more people.
“The chief minister’s offered help to the Uttarakhand government on his own and his experience in the PMO helped him,” said a public representative close to the chief minister.
Salute
Heroes’ kin give DNA samples
The bodies of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel, who died in helicopter crash in Uttarakhand, will take time to reach their native place.
This is because the bodies are badly burnt and are beyond recognition.
The NDRF teams are collecting DNA samples of family members to identify the bodies.
Two of the nine NDRF personnel who died in the crash were from Maharashtra.
An NDRF team has collected the DNA samples of their family members and sent them to Delhi.
Prashant Dhar, commandant of 8th battalion of NDRF, told dna, “The bodies are badly burnt and they need to be identified by matching DNA samples of their family members. The whole process will take some time. Only after that, the bodies will be sent to their native place.”
A team of 5th battalion of NDRF posted in Pune was sent to Dhule to collect DNA sample of family relatives of Shashikant Pawar.
Alok Avasthy, commandant of 5th battalion of NDRF, told dna: “Our team went to Dhule and took the DNA sample of Shashikant’s mother and it has been sent to Delhi. The other dead NDRF personnel Ganesh Ahirrao’s wife and two children are in Delhi. An NDRF team has collected the DNA sample of Ganesh’s son.”
After identification of these bodies, both the bodies will be sent to Aurangabad by flight. From Aurangabad, the bodies will be taken to their native places. “The state is preparing for a state funeral with the mandatory police, paramilitary or military honours. The state has even made arrangements to get their bodies to Aurangabad by flight to ensure that there is no delay,” an official said.
The state government has asked the Mumbai suburban collector to follow up with the IAF on the pilot of the Mi7 helicopter, Daryl Castelino, who was also killed in the chopper crash in Uttarakhand. He will be accorded full military honours.
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