U`khand floods: Kedarnath turn into ghost town

Kedarnath: The unprecedented rains turned Kedarnath into a ghost town with bodies strewn all over.

Rain water gushed into the town from the summit behind the famous shrine carrying rocks and boulders, destroying everything on its path. The outer structure of the temple, however, seems intact. The most ironic part of the tragedy is despite the mobile phone towers remaining intact, there is no electricity due to which people were unable to contact their families as their phones ran out of charge. A senior Uttarakhand government official said 123 bodies have been recovered from Kedarnath where a team of experts went today to a take count of bodies strewn all over the place. Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna said Kedarnath has been totally evacuated of pilgrims now. Having several brushes with death, survivors of the Himalayan tsunami which left a trail of destruction in the hill state were all praise for Army, which they said has given them a second life. Sukhvinder Singh, a Ludhiana native who was stuck for eight days on the way to Hemkund Sahib, said, "I was en route to Hemkund Sahib when the disaster struck. The situation was deteriorating with the passage of time...We were bit relieved when Army stepped in. They gave us food and water and helped us in every possible way. Had they not been here, we wouldn`t have survived." Recalling his horrific experiences during the past few days, Aman Bisht, who arranges treks to Hemkund Sahib every year, said, "The road links were shattered and down there we had no bridges left. And even if there was a road somewhere, it was broken. The Army has been very supportive." Another survivor from Punjab, who was rescued from Joshi Math, said he was able to contact his family only with the help of army personnel. PTI