Uttarakhand floods: Rescue operations to take two more days, says DG ITBP

The chief of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) is quite hopeful that all the stranded pilgrims in Uttarakhand will be rescued within two days also the rescue operations will be majorly completed by Saturday.

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: The chief of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) is quite hopeful that all the stranded pilgrims in Uttarakhand will be rescued within two days and the rescue operations will be majorly completed by tomorrow. Addressing press on Friday, DG Ajay Chadha said, “Hope to pull out almost everyone by Sunday; areas that were inaccessible till now have been reached.” He further said, “Rescue operations have gathered pace as the weather has improved, the Army jawans are helping us; also, the three battalions of the force (about 3,000 troops) deployed in the state have rescued thousands of people.” About 4,000 people have been rescued by the force from the area, he said. Chadha added, “We are also trying to establish bridge connectivity to Badrinath. Pilgrims from Pandukeshwar will also be evacuated by Saturday.” He said it would be difficult to give an exact number as to how many people have been stranded and rescued as a number of agencies are operating. While assuring that no one will be left stranded in the flood affected area, Chadha said, “Almost all the people have been rescued from Kedarnath but we`ll remain there till we`re sure no one is left stranded.” “All the government agencies are working in a perfect co-ordination to rescue people,” Chadha said. The ITBP chief also asserted that, "Apart from pilgrims we have also rescued local residents in Uttarakhand. We are passing on all the information to the Uttarakhand government."