Uttarkashi: Body recovered, 42 missing as relentless rains halts rescue efforts

Five missing Nepali labourers have been contacted after mobile network restoration; authorities remain hopeful others will be traced despite challenging weather and blocked roads.

Uttarkashi: Incessant rains in Uttarkashi since Monday morning hampered rescue operations in disaster-hit Dharali and Harsil, even as one more body was recovered and 42 people remain missing following flash floods in the area a week ago, officials said.

Apart from them, five of the 29 Nepali labourers reported missing initially have been contacted after the restoration of the mobile network, and authorities said they are hopeful that the others will also be traced.

Due to the inclement weather, rescuers had to temporarily halt their search for the missing people in the debris, officials said.

Hopes of finding survivors dimmed as it has been almost a week since raging waters and mudslides buried virtually half of Dharali village, besides causing extensive damage to an army camp in Harsil.

Commissioner of Garhwal division Vinay Shankar told reporters in Uttarkashi on Monday that "as per the information received so far, 43 people were reported missing in the disaster, out of which the body of Akash Panwar, a youth from Dharali village, has been recovered".

He, however, did not specify the death toll till now.

Financial assistance has been provided to the family of the deceased youth, he said.

The remaining 42 missing people include nine army personnel as well as eight people from Dharali village, five from nearby areas, one person from Tehri district, 13 from Bihar and six from Uttar Pradesh, Pandey said.

He said 29 Nepali labourers were also reported missing initially, out of which five have been contacted after the restoration of the mobile network in the area.

More details about the remaining 24 labourers, like their mobile numbers and places where they hailed from, have been sought from their contractors, he said.

It is believed that, like the five labourers who have been found safe so far, the remaining workers may also have gone elsewhere to take shelter, he said.

The district administration had initially said that four people had died in the tragedy. Later, two bodies were recovered, and 49 people were reported missing since the disaster.

The Garhwal Commissioner said a total of 1,278 people, including outsiders and needy locals who had taken shelter in different locations in the affected areas, were evacuated during the heli rescue operation.

"All the outsiders and needy local people stranded in the affected area have been evacuated," he said.

Distribution of an ex gratia of Rs five lakh each as immediate relief among the affected people is going on, he said, adding that a larger package of relief and rehabilitation is being prepared for them.

The state government, quoting the Meteorological Department, said that the weather will remain bad for the next few days with heavy rain predicted in the state on August 13, 14 and 15.

A vital Bailey bridge near Gangnani connecting the flood-hit areas around Dharali has been built and made operational on Sunday night. The construction of the 30-metre-long Bailey bridge at Limchagad ahead of Ganganani on the Gangotri National Highway is expected to speed up the work for restoring road connectivity to Dharali and Harsil.

The highway remains blocked at Songad, Dabrani and Harsil.

The IMD has issued a 'yellow' alert, warning of rain across Uttarakhand during the day.

It has also issued a 'red' alert for heavy to very heavy rain over the next few hours in Almora, Dehradun, Haridwar, Nainital, Pauri and Udham Singh Nagar districts.

It was raining heavily in Dehradun since morning which led to heavy waterlogging in various areas of the town, including Sahastradhara road and IT park.

An Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) official in Dharali had said earlier in the day that the force is manually digging through the debris where a hotel stood before the disaster hit.

"A hotel stood here. There was some movement of people in front of it when the disaster struck. The debris here is being dug manually with the help of radar equipment as people might be buried here," he said.

Uttarkashi District Magistrate Prashant Arya, who has been stationed in the affected area, visited Harsil in the morning to review efforts being made to reduce the water levels of a lake formed on the Bhagirathi river in the wake of the flash floods.

Water in the lake has receded but efforts are on to remove a huge uprooted tree from it as it might block further drainage of water, Arya said.

Officials said that the work of distributing relief material in the disaster-affected area is underway.

Heavy rain is also expected in the state from August 13 to 15, the MeT department said.