U’khand floods: Rains prevent rescuers from extricating bodies from rubble
Rains prevented rescuers from reaching Kedarnath to extricate bodies buried in rubble even as NDMA said death toll could be "huge" as they gain access to areas ravaged by flash flood.
|Last Updated: Jun 30, 2013, 10:25 PM IST|Source: Bureau
New Delhi: Rains on Sunday prevented rescuers from reaching Kedarnath town to extricate bodies buried in the rubble even as the National Disaster Management said the death toll could be "huge" as they gain access to areas ravaged by the flash flood a fortnight ago.
"National Disaster Relief Force team had planned to go to Kedarnath town with heavy equipment to extricate the bodies, but the heavy lift helicopters could not take off with the equipment due to bad weather," M Sashidhar Reddy, Vice Chairman of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), told reporters.
When asked about the death toll, Reddy said Uttarakhand Speaker had put the figure around 10,000, but right now it`s not possible to give the exact numbers.
"I can only say that the manner in which the disaster occurred, it indicates huge number of deaths," he said.
While Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has stated the death toll may cross the 1,000 mark, the state Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal had said yesterday that the figure may be more than 10,000. Union Home Hinister Sushilkumar Shinde had said the toll was 900 till Friday night.
Around 1,500 people, including locals, were still stranded at Badrinath and Harsil while around 1,800 are missing, he said, adding Chief Secretaries of the states have been asked to verify the names of missing persons of their state.
Reddy said 739 villages of the state were badly affected but 80 per cent of telecommunication services have been restored. Apart from 105 satellite phones were also being used for communication.
He said the three medical team from Centre had reached Kedarnath and was busy collecting DNA samples of the dead. Also three truck loads of medicines reached there and 10 lakh chlorine tablet has been given to state government.
Teams from NIMHANS, Bangalore have reached to provide psycho-social support to the people and also from National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme to contain spread of vector borne diseases.
Reddy said 12 NDRF teams have been deployed, of these one is in Badrinath, two are in Laskar in Haridwar, six at Jolly Grant in Dehradun and three are in transit.
Quoting a state government report received last evening, he said a total of 1,07,670 people have been rescued till date and 1,514 people were evacuated from Harsil and Badrinath by helicopters and by roads.
PTI
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
Cookies Setting
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device and the processing of information obtained via those cookies (including about your preferences, device and online activity) by us and our commercial partners to enhance site navigation, personalise ads, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. More information can be found in our Cookies and Privacy Policy. You can amend your cookie settings to reject non-essential cookies by clicking Cookie Settings below.
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work or you may not be able to login.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advert as well as help measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we may not know when you have visited our site, and may not be able to monitor its performance.