Dehradun: Rescue work has been continued as the weather clears on Thursday. 15 yatris of first batch arrived from Badrinath at Joshimath air base in Uttarakhand. Air rescue sorties have also resumed in Harsil on Thursday morning where the weather has cleared.
Air Force Task Force Commander Rajesh Issar said, “We’re hopeful that we will complete rescue operations in Harsil today. We rescued some 600 to 700 people from Harsil on Wednesday.”
Army spokesperson Brigadier Uma Maheshwari said, “208 people have been evacuated by helicopters since morning on Thursday and only 200 people are to be evacuated from Harsil now.””At Badrinath, 30 people have been evacuated by air and 400 people have started by foot with the Army.”
The government sources say rescue operations could be completed in the next 48 to 72 hours. This comes as the Met department has predicted that the weather will improve from Friday even as there will be light rains on Thursday.
Anand Sharma from Met department said, “There will be light to moderate rains in the Garhwal region. In Chardham, rains are expected between 5 to 15 mm while moderate rains are expected in South Uttarakhand. The intensity of rain will reduce and the situation is expected to further improve from Friday.”
A few villages still remain completely cut-off and haven’t received any relief aid in the past eight days. The fear is that more lives will be lost. It is a huge challenge in terms of relief and supplies for the survivors. Over 5,000 people still remain stranded across Uttarakhand and at least 400 people are officially missing.
IAS officer Ravinath Raman said, “The cremation of bodies in Kedarnath which was being put off again and again for the past two days due to bad weather was finally taken up this afternoon.”
Even it is also not known that how many bodies are cremated. The temple town of Kedarnath was the epicentre of destruction.
Bureau Report
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