Dehradun/New Delhi: Fifteen days after floods hit Uttarakhand killing hundreds of people and sweeping away numerous houses, rescue operations in the state are set to wind up on Monday. Quoting a state government report, the National Disaster Management Authority on Sunday said that a total of 1,07,670 people have been rescued till date and 1,514 people were evacuated from Harsil and Badrinath by helicopters and by roads.
There is, however, no clarity on the death toll yet. NDMA Vice Chairman Shashidhar Reddy and Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal have said that more than 10,000 could have been killed in the disaster but the Uttarakhand government has refused to give out a figure saying the exact number would be known only after the debris are removed. Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde had said on Friday that the toll was just 900.
The number of the missing people is also not known. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna on Sunday claimed that as many as 3000 people could be missing in the floods but the NDMA has pegged the figure at 1800.
Rains on Sunday prevented rescuers from reaching Kedarnath town to extricate bodies buried in the rubble. "National Disaster Relief Force team had planned to go to Kedarnath town with heavy equipment to extricate the bodies, but the heavy lift helicopters could not take off with the equipment due to bad weather," Reddy said.
Reddy also said that 1500 people, including locals, were still stranded at Badrinath and Harsil. He added that Chief Secretaries of the states have been asked to verify the names of missing persons of their state.
He further said that 739 villages of the state were badly affected but 80 per cent of telecommunication services have been restored. Apart from 105 satellite phones were also being used for communication.
The NDMA Vice Chairman said three medical teams from the Centre had reached Kedarnath and were busy collecting DNA samples of the dead. Three truck loads of medicines have also reached there and 10 lakh chlorine tablets have been given to the state government, Reddy added.
Teams from NIMHANS, Bangalore have reached to provide psycho-social support to the people and also from National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme to contain spread of vetcor borne diseases, he told reporters. Reddy said 12 NDRF teams have been deployed, of these one is in Badrinath, two are in Laskar in Haridwar, six at Jolly Grant in Dehradun and three are in transit.
The government has also deployed around 4,000 vehicles to take the rescued people to Dehradun or Haridwar so that they can go to their destination, he said, adding a portion of road between Badrinath and Rambara has been repaired.
The Indian Air Force till 5:30 pm on Sunday flew 93 sorties. Till date from June 18, it has flown 2137 sorties and evacuated 18,424 people. The Army along with other security forces has also been busy evacuating people from different parts of the flood-ravaged hill state.
(With additional information from PTI)
Helplines:
Save the Children contact details:
Website : www.savethechildren.in
Phone : 011-42294900 / 66141335
Helpline numbers:
Uttarkashi: 01374-226126, 226161
Chamoli: 01372-251437
Tehri: 01376-233433
Rudraprayag: 01732-1077
The ITBP helpline and control room numbers: 011-24362892, 9968383478
Army medical emergency helpline numbers: 18001805558, 18004190282, 8009833388
Uttarakhand Helpline numbers: 0135-2710334, 2710335, 2710233
Railway helpline numbers at Haridwar: 09760534054/09760534055;
Dehradun: 01352622131;
Rishikesh: 01352434167
Special helpline numbers:
State Disaster Management Centre: 0135-2710334, 2710335, 2718401-04. Fax: 2718400, 6555523, 6555524
Others: 09755444486, 09808151240, 09837134399, 999779124, 9451901023, 9456755206, 9634535758
For more information, please see the website where details are available: http://uk.gov.in
Email ID: [email protected]
Haridwar Control Room Numbers: 01334-233727, 01334-265876, 01334-223999, 01334-226849
Contact Person Dr Naresh Chaudhary: 9837352202
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