State rushes medical aid to Uttarakhand

Around 120 to 150 pilgrims from Karnataka are still stranded in the flood-ravaged Badrinath in Uttarakhand as of Friday evening.

Karnataka government officials in Delhi and Dehradun have been trying to keep a track of pilgrims from the State stranded in Badrinath by way of receiving distress calls from their family members.

Minister of State for Infrastructure and Information Santosh Lad, who is camping in Dehradun, said he has requested the Uttarakhand government to intensify the rescue operations in Badrinath and Uttar Kashi.

“The Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has assured us that the government will deploy seven to eight choppers for airlifting stranded pilgrims on Saturday,” Lad said. As of now it is difficult to ascertain how many people have been washed away as thick silt has accumulated all over. It is said that efforts are being made to retrieve the bodies by removing silt, he added.

The Karnataka government has also opened a small makeshift relief centre at Dehradun for people from the state to take shelter, apart from providing them with food, medical care and clothing. So far, 77 people have returned home with the help of the Karnataka government.

Medical team

The state government on Friday sent three medical teams each comprising two doctors and as many nurses to Uttarakhand to provide medical aid to the stranded pilgrims from Karnataka. Health and Family Welfare Minister U T Khader told reporters in Bangalore that teams would carry medicines and medical equipment and will start attending to the needy from Saturday. The teams will also counsel those who went through a trauma.

The teams will coordinate with three senior officials from the State, IAS officer Naveen Raj Singh, IPS officer Hemant Nimbalkar and KAS officer Kari Gowda, who are camping in Dehradun. The teams will visit Rishikesh and Rudraprayag, he added.