Uttarakhand: It’s a race against time as weather, hunger threaten thousands of lives

TNN

Dehradun, 22 June 2013 : It’s now a grim race against time. With the next round of heavy rains expected on Monday in the hills of Uttarakhand, rescuers have just Saturday and Sunday to carry out a mammoth evacuation of thousands stranded in Kedarnath, Badrinath,Gangotri and Yamunotri, many of them old or ill, and several without food or shelter. The official death toll has reached 550.

 

 

"Yes, we are running against time," admitted ITBP chief Ajay Chaddha whose men and Army soldiers are carrying out a heroic evacuation operation in frighteningly difficult conditions. According to Chaddha, around 1,000 people are still trapped in inaccessible areas of the Kedarnath axis. They are the most vulnerable as they are virtually without shelter in freezing nights and living on hardly any food.

An officer conducting the operations in Kedarnath said some seemed to have already died due to hunger and illness. He said the elderly without food in such hostile conditions would be especially vulnerable. Apart from Kedarnath, which is the worst hit, another 10,000 are said to be marooned in the Badrinath-Hemkunt Sahib axis, while a similar number is said to be stranded in the Gangotri-Yamunotri axis. The numbers give an idea of the enormity of the challenging evacuation operation.

"Rescue work is in full swing," Uttarakhand principal secretary Subhas Kumar told TOI. He said he was aware of the rains forecasted. "By June 24, we should be able to evacuate all," he said, but added, "but it all depends on the weather. After all, a helicopter crashed today (on Friday)."

The road to Kedarnath is virtually non-existent in the stretch between Rudraprayag andGaurikund, while the road leading to Badrinath is badly damaged between Gobindghat and Badrinath. Garhwal divisional commissioner Suvardhan told TOI that it would take anything between two to three months to restore these roads, making rescue operations entirely dependent on air evacuation.

Preparation for the next two days are also on at breakneck speed with new helipads coming up at Gaurikund and Auli while old ones at Kedarnath being enlarged to let MI-17 choppers land there. MI-17 can carry up to 14 people as compared to smaller choppers that carry only 5-8 people but need larger base to land.

NDRF IG Sandeep Rathod on Friday said that June 22-23 were "key dates" and all the agencies were maximising their efforts to carry out majority of relief and rescue work during this time. "We know that rains may come anytime and the Meteorological department has also predicted rains in the near future. So we are geared up for that," Rathore said.