DEHRADUN, June 23: Kedarnath Valley, the temple town which was the epicentre of the Uttarakhand rain fury, was today cleared of all stranded pilgrims, as rescuers battled rains to evacuate 3,000 more people in the disaster in which the death toll is likely to cross 5,000.
With MeT department warning of adverse weather in the region from tomorrow, the multi-agency operations raced against time to try to rescue remaining 19,000 stranded people stuck in three areas including Badrinath. Air operations had to be also briefly suspended due to bad weather.
As stepped up rescue operations amid intermittent rains led to evacuation of more than 3,000 pilgrims and tourists out of the stranded 22,000 people, the State Government said at least 5,000 people must have perished in Uttarakhand in the worst ever deluge to have struck the hill State.
“At least 5,000 people must have been killed in the deluge that inflicted heavy damage on vast tracts of land especially in Kedarnath valley,” Disaster Management Minister Yashpal Arya told reporters at the Jollygrant airport on his return from an aerial survey of the affected areas. The official death toll as of yesterday was put at 680 while Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna said the death toll is likely to be around 1,000.
However, Arya did not give a specific figure saying extrication of bodies from under tonnes of debris in affected areas which is yet to be taken up may take some time.
ITBP jawans also began constructing foot tracks to speed up evacuation work, offering a “silver lining” for the stranded people.
“New tracks for able-bodied men to move on foot are opening up and that is a silver lining,” Air Commodore Rajesh Isser, who is also the Task Force Commander for the IAF, told reporters.
He said air operations are now focussed on areas like Gaurikund and Harshil and other places which were untouched.
In stepped up rescue operations by the Army, ITBP and NDRF amid intermittent rains, more than 3,000 people were rescued from different areas, Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar told reporters.
Kedarnath valley has been totally evacuated while over 3,000 stuck in Badrinath, Junglechatti and Harshil areas were evacuated to safe locations by the security forces today, he said. Scores of dead bodieslay strewn in Kedarnath area.
A joint combing operation by the security forces will be launched in Kedarnath valley tomorrow morning to ensure not a single survivor remains stuck in Rudraparayag district.
When asked how many more are yet to be evacuated from Badrinath and nearby areas, the Chief secretary said the figure should not be more than 7,000.
ITBP has tasked its men undertaking rescue operations in Kedarnath to take out everyone including reluctant ‘sadhus’ from the rain ravaged temple town.
“There are reports with our personnel that some sadhus have refused to be taken out from Kedarnath. I have asked my men to persuade them and leave the place,” ITBP DIG Amit Prasad told reporters.
Prasad said the numbers of these Sadhus would be between 15-20 and they need to be brought out as that area has a number of bodies which could lead to spread of diseases.
The ITBP and Army today said that Kedarnath area would be cleared of all people by tomorrow evening.
An Army medical team today helped deliver two babies – a boy and a girl – at a makeshift centre in Sabola area of rain-ravaged Uttarakhand.
After trekking nearly 15 kms, the team had yesterday reached Tijan village which has a population of nearly 400 people.
When the team led by Capt R Patil found that two pregnant women required urgent medical attention, they requisitioned a lady doctor.
Army doctor Capt Febba Susan was heli-dropped in a nearby area today from where she reached the village after a 10-km trek, DG Military Operations Lt Gen Vinod Bhatia told reporters.
She helped deliver the two babies – a boy and a girl – at the makeshift medical centre.
“The newborns and their mothers are in good health,” he said. While Capt Susan has left the area, the medical team is still in the area helping locals.
In another feat, IAF helicopters wrenched up 25 people marooned in the higher reaches of the state in the last three days. They were wrenched up in choppers from an elevation of three km above mean sea level.
“Despite bad weather, it was a red letter day for the Air Force…,” IAF’s chief of Air Operations Air Marshal S B Deo told reporters here.
The Air Force planes and helicopters airlifted and dispatched 1.5 lakh kg of load. It has been described as one of the biggest helilift operation of the Air Force.
Five choppers functioned out of Dharasu to evacuate 608 persons. Besides lighter Cheetah and Chetak helicopters, IAF has also deployed various versions of medium lift Mi-17 choppers and advanced light helicopter Dhruv.
A Mi-26 chopper has carried supplies and two fuel tankers to enable other helicopters refuel while carrying out rescue operations.
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) recovered over Rs 83 lakh in cash apparently looted by plunderers in Kedarnath and handed it over to the civil authorities. A self-loading rifle, apparently belonging to a policeman, was also recovered.
Meanwhile increasing tourism for recreational purpose and ruthless commercialism are to be blamed for the destruction caused in Kedarnath, believes Vageeshling Maharaj, chief purohit of Kedarnath dham.
“So many people visit Kedarnath who have no feeling of piety or devotion. They go to Kedarnath only to have fun and enjoy themselves. With a mindset which has nothing to do with faith and worship,” said Vageeshling Swami, chief purohit of the the dham.
“Lord Shiva is a ‘bairagya’. He has nothing to do with materialism and desire. People come here in the wrong spirit.
“Just as Lord Shiva has discarded everything, so should the people come here having given up all worldly thoughts, to cleanse themselves,” said Swamiji, who is at present residing at the Vishwanath temple in Guptkashi.
Swamiji was inside the temple on June 17 when the great wave of rocks, ice chunks and boulders came crashing down the lake which is about one-km behind the temple.
“We could see boulders breaking off and a mass of water descending at a furious pace. The wave reached the temple within seconds. Some of the boulders even hit the temple, which shook for a few moments. But it passed just as quickly,” he recounted.
“A wave 40-feet high engulfed the temple and flowed away. The cascade of water seemed as high as the spire of the temple,” Swamiji added.
He left the temple on June 19, when the Army evacuated some members of the temple staff to Fhata.
“Fifteen of the temple staff are still missing. We were evacuated in batches; apart from the 15 all are safe,” Swamiji said.
Although the temple structure remains unharmed, the compound is now a mound of rubble. “The way the temple, and the area, was before June 17, it will take 20 years for Kedarnath to look like that again. The cloudburst sent us back by more than a century,” he said.
Sitting beside Vageeshling Swami, chief pujari of the Vishwanath temple here, Shashidharling swami, said: “Space of 80-m should be left free on each side of the temple. In front they should leave a stretch of 150-m of free space.
“There was a time when the Kedarnath temple was visible from 3-km away. But over the years, with all the encroachment by shops, you have to go right up to the temple before it is visible,” he added.
Describing the divine retribution as a punishment for human excesses, Shashidharling swami said: “Yes this is a message from above. The message is in the destruction that rained from the skies. The message is in the temple standing intact after all that,” he said.
“The temple was not destroyed because the Lord did not want to shatter faith. A broken temple would have broken people’s faith, their very spirit. So the temple emerged unscathed but all else around it was wiped clean,” he added.
“But God is merciful. If thousands perished, then lakhs survived. People should think on this calamity and look within,” Shashidarling swami said as Vageeshling swami nodded his head in approval. (PTI)
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