Uttarakhand cloudburst toll rises to 17, over 9,000 Kedarnath pilgrims rescued
The number of deaths due to a cloudburst that struck Uttarakhand earlier this week rose to 17 as one body was recovered from Rudraprayag on Saturday.
More than 9,000 pilgrims stranded on the rain-ravaged trek route to Kedarnath temple have been rescued so far. The trek route to Kedarnath suffered extensive damage as a result of a cloudburst in Junglechatti near Lincholi on July 31. The pilgrims got stranded beyond Bhimbali along the Gaurikund-Kedarnath trek route when a 20-25 metre stretch of the road was washed away by the waters of a swollen Mandakini river.
Over 1,000 pilgrims were still waiting to be evacuated in Kedarnath, Gaurikund and Sonprayag areas since the rescue operations began on Thursday. If the weather improves, all the remaining pilgrims could be rescued on Sunday.
The weather office has predicted heavy rainfall in several parts of Uttarakhand till August 8.
As many as 882 relief personnel were working round the clock to provide food, water and shelter to the stranded pilgrims and aid in rescue efforts to evacuate them safely.
The Indian Army was building a temporary bridge at Sonprayag, one of the landslide-hit areas, to expedite the evacuation of the remaining pilgrims.
Rescue operations were still underway to find one person who is missing, while 25 people sustained injuries in rain-related incidents.
The Kedarnath yatra was temporarily suspended after the cloudburst, with an advisory from the Rudraprayag administration asking pilgrims to wait wherever they are till the route was cleared of debris and repaired.
Two helpline numbers — 7579257572 and 01364-233387 — and one emergency number 112 were issued by the district administration to help people get information about their stranded families among the pilgrims, officials said.
KEDARNATH TREK ROUTE RESTORATION
Earlier on Saturday, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami spoke to Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari and informed him about the extensive damage caused to the Kedarnath trek route and the national highways due to cloudburst in the state.
Dhami urged the speedy restoration of the trek route and national highways, keeping in mind the expected rush of both pilgrims and tourists after the monsoon. Gadkari assured him of all possible help to deal with the calamity.
Garhwal Commissioner Vinay Shankar Pandey was appointed the nodal officer for basic infrastructure restoration work on the Kedarnath trek route.
Rudraprayag District Magistrate Saurabh Gaharwar said it might take one week to clear the debris on the Kedarnath trek route and restore it if the weather permits. He also said work on repairing a 150-metre breached stretch of the route will begin soon.