Summary:
- Some reports say 1,000 dead, 62,000 still stranded. 24,000 rescued
- 500 roads damaged and 200 bridges washed out
- Army, Air force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police and National Disaster Relief Force working on rescue
- 13,000 still missing. Missing persons websites available here
- Fears of further torrential rain. India’s Met department says more rain likely to hit Uttarakhand by 24th June
- Indian Media calling the floods a “man-made disaster”
The numbers of reported victims of the floods in Uttarakhand have been rising dramatically as rescue teams have been able to reach remote flooded towns and villages.
Rescue missions have been all but impossible in some areas. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bhauguna said teams have been unable to access people who were on foot between Guarikund and Kedarnath. Ultimately the rescue forces have had to go out there on foot themselves rather than road or air. More than 500 roads have been damaged and 200 bridges washed out.
Vijay Bhauguna also said that the flooding in Kedarnath was because of a cloudburst, and defended the decision not to evacuate the area, suggesting that this would have been an impossible task given the number of pilgrim visiting. When asked about the causes of the floods, in particular the idea that mining and hydrology projects along with deforestation were responsible, he said the aim of his administration is to have ecology balanced with development and they have not sanctioned fresh projects.
However, the BBC reports that:
Media in India feel rampant construction, mining and massive power projects in the northern Himalayan states have contributed to the disaster the monsoon floods have brought to the region.
Meanwhile the numbers of the victims continue to rise at a staggering rate. Earlier this week it was feared that the floods had killed 60 people. Now that rescue missions have been able to reach wider areas, those figure have risen dramatically. The Washington Times says:
More than 1,000 people are dead and 62,000 still stranded after torrential monsoon rains hit northern India over the weekend, officials said Thursday.
The rescue missions continue. The are around 10,000 Indian troops working to repair roads and bridges in order to get to the thousands of stranded pilgrims and locals. The Indian Air force and the Indo-Tibetan border police (ITBP) have been using helicopters to reach some regions of the state, with an emphasis on taking the vulnerable, woman and children to safety first. New makeshift helipads are being built to aid the process. Officials put the number of those now rescued from the floods at around 24,000.
VK Duggal has been placed in charge of all relief measures in Uttarakhand. He is a member of the National Disaster Management Authority now charge with co-ordinating rescue efforts of various forces and agencies – National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF), Army, Air Force and ITBP. With the worst of the torrential rain and flooding believed to be over, the rescue missions can now get in full swing. Within the space of 3 hours earlier today, for example, the Indian Air force managed to complete 65 sorties, airlifting 15,000 kg of supplies to affected areas, as well as rescuing 550 stranded pilgrims.
However, there are still doubts over the help and assistance given to those stranded. Some individuals contacted by media outlets have reported that they have no drinking water or food.
“There are some 3,000 of us stuck in Gangotri (a pilgrimage site) for the past few days and there is no food, no drinking water or assurances from the government,” a pilgrim, Parwinder Singh, told CNN-IBN by telephone.
An eye-witness report from the Hindustan Times says:
The scale of devastation is high and the rescue operations woefully inadequate. The much-hyped emergency chopper service is just not enough to evacuate the stranded.
Till Wednesday morning, there were no relief camps and the administration was nowhere to be seen. We were staying at Shree Vidya Dham, which has been converted it into a relief camp but not more than 50 people could be fed there. The SDM promised to provide food and relief material, but he disappeared.
The damage caused by floods in the region will mean that pilgrimage to the shrines of Kedarnath and Badrinath in Uttarakhand will be out of the question for at least 3 years, despite money being made available to rebuild infrastructure in the region. India’s Rural Development Minister, Jairam Ramesh, said that a Rs. 340 crore special package for Uttarakhand will be available for re-constructing roads and bridges.
Sources: Hindustan Times NDTV; BBC
