Uttarakhand: Rain slams brakes on all rescue ops - Hindustan Times

Apprehensions assail Uttarakhand as a fresh bout of rain brings ground rescue operations to a halt and keeps all relief helicopters off air on Sunday afternoon making authorities and pilgrims wonder what next if the rain turns into a downpour in the next 10 hours. Military personnel carry relief supplies from an Indian Air Force Mi-26 heavy lift helicopter in Ghauri Kund, Uttarakhand. (AFP/Ministry of Defence/Gurudutt Mehra) The rescue paths have turned soggy, visibility has gone poor and the makeshift landing strips have drenched making air and land rescues difficult for now, say reports. Sources fear that if the rain continued the rescue of the remaining 22,000 people will become difficult as the weather department has predicted torrential rain after a moderate spell on Sunday. Kedarnath pilgrims rescued, fresh tracks for Badrinath At least 1000 people have been reported killed in the rain disaster over the six-day stretch, 70,000 rescued with the highest number of 7,000 moved to safety on Friday-Saturday operation. Earlier, army chief general Bikram Singh said the army had rushed its personnel with logistics, medical cover and ration to extricate people stuck in the flood-hit mountainous state. He admitted on Monday, "Time is limited. We have a window till Sunday because I have been told the weather might turn bad again. We are rushing our people there," Army chief General Bikram Singh said on the sidelines of an event in Hyderabad. He said the army had increased its deployment of rescuers from 500 personnel the first day to more than 6,000 by Saturday. Information and Broadcasting minister Manish Tewari on Saturday said about 10,000 people had been evacuated by the army and Indo-Tibetan Border Police, including from critical areas. The army and paramilitary personnel stepped up operations on the fifth day of rescue work. Despite bad weather, the Indian Air Force carried out 150 helicopter sorties till Saturday afternoon, said Tewari, adding that in all, 61 helicopters - 43 of IAF, 11 of the army and seven private - are engaged in the rescue and relief mission. He also said there was "absolute and complete coordination" between various agencies active in relief operations. ITBP spokesman Deepak K Pandey said over 9,500 people were still trapped in Kedarnath and the Badrinath region. He said around 8,000 were estimated to be stranded in Badrinath region. He said a new ropeway has been installed at Lambagar, about 10 km from Badrinath, to rescue people. Pandey said stranded people were being brought to Govindghat and then taken to Joshimath on bus and other vehicles. In Joshimath, names of rescued people are being noted before sending them for onward journey to Dehradun, Haridwar and Rishikesh. Rescued pilgrims from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh began to return home. Of 399 pilgrims from Tamil Nadu, 275 were flown to Delhi, an official statement said Saturday. They will be flown back to Chennai.  A team of Tamil Nadu government officials are in Haridwar to coordinate with the Uttarakhand government to find out the whereabouts of the other 124 pilgrims About 100 pilgrims from Andhra Pradesh reached Vijayawada from New Delhi by Kerala Express while another group of 30 reached Kazipet in Warangal district by New Delhi-Hyderabad AP Express. For the pilgrims it was a tearful reunion with their loved ones. The relatives of the pilgrims cried and embraced them as Kerala Express halted at Vijayawada station. Amid the race against time, an eight-member team of experts was sent to Kedarnath temple to count the bodies lying in the area. Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde, who visited Dehradun and met Bahuguna, admitted to a "lack of coordination between government agencies engaged in rescue operations". Shinde, who arrived here to review the rescue operations, said the disaster was not man-made. Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi also visited the state and lauded the army and other rescue teams after an aerial survey of the flood-ravaged areas. (With inputs from agencies) via Top Stories - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNFpyQMJ9Xf5v64t46BfUIkmqJA9Yw&url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Uttarakhand/Uttarakhand-Rain-slams-brakes-on-all-rescue-ops/Article1-1080933.aspx

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