Dehradun: The search and rescue operation of defence and paramilitary personnel is now over as all the survivors have been found in Kedarnath and surrounding areas. Defence and paramilitary personnel are now wrapping up their mission.
Ravinath Raman, Nodal Officer of rescue operations in Rudraprayag on Monday said, “No survivors remain in the jungles around Kedarnath. They have all been brought out.”
An official of NDRF said that their teams were also in Rambada, Gaurikund and Kedarnath but they would have returned by nightfall. He also said, “Army and paramilitary personnel have minutely combed the jungles in this area. There are no more people trapped here. The survivors have all been moved.”
Some NDRF personnel had their faces covered with masks. They said that every fresh breeze carried the smell of decomposing corpses. “The bodies cannot be removed. They are far too decomposed for that. We will have to cremate them where they are found.”
Raman said, “But the rain will make that difficult. The forecast is for heavy weather in the coming few days.”
Raman had declared that the toll was 1,000 on the basis of bodies found till Monday and the rest are being taken as missing.
Due to heavy rain shower in morning, road have been blocked to Son Prayag. It was later on cleared hurriedly to continue the rescue operation in full swing. The haste was evident. The coordination committee being run in Guptkashi by locals kept pleading with returning pilgrims as well as the kin of missing persons to move on quickly. The rain will make matters difficult, they announced over loudspeakers.
Another NDRF official said, work that remains is for the bodies to be sprayed with disinfectants.
As of the missing persons, he said, there was little hope. “It is now more than a week since the cloudburst. Chances of survival are very low for those who have not been brought out by rescue personnel or given shelter by locals. Without food and water it would be very tough.
He said, “Also, even a single night in these jungles without any warm clothing and shelter can prove fatal. Remember many of them are aged, some would have already taken ill after the cloudburst. In such circumstances, holding on becomes difficult.”
Many would have perished in the first moments of the cloudburst which, he explained, was like an entire column of water descending from the skies with great force and crashing into the mountains. It would have loosened rocks and boulders and carried these along the surge, swelling every moment.” Think of a polythene bag filled with water. If you made several tiny holes in it, like in a sieve, water would fall slowly through them, much like rainfall.
He also said, “Now think, if the same plastic bag were to burst, what would happen to the water? It would all come down in one great mass. It can be a terrible destructive force.”
Bureau Report
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