Dehradun:
Almost two weeks after flash floods and landslides hit Uttarakhand, at least 4000 people, most of them pilgrims, are still waiting to be evacuated from the Himalayan state. Most of them are stranded in Badrinath. Nearly 1000 people are reported to have died in the devastation.
Here are the latest developments in the story:
With the weather clearing a bit and threat of epidemic looming large, mass cremation of bodies began in the temple town Kedarnath, the epicenter of the devastation, on Wednesday. (Read)
Cremations were delayed on Tuesday because of heavy rain. The Air Force has transported firewood and other material needed for the last rites.
It is estimated that 3,500 people are waiting to be evacuated from Badrinath. Most of them are staying in army camps, with access to food and water. Nearly 500 are stuck in Harsil.
Yesterday, the Army evacuated nearly 2,500 stranded persons from Badrinath. From the Harsil area, 600 persons were evacuated.
The Indian Air Force has begun its sorties from Gauchar, the hub of relief and rescue operations, on schedule this morning. (Full coverage)
Close to 100,000 people have been evacuated from the state so far in a heroic and vast rescue operation led by the military. "Approximately 100 people are being evacuated by the choppers per hour," the state government has said in a statement.
60 helicopters are in service, ferrying people and air-dropping food and other supplies.
On Tuesday, an IAF helicopter returning from Kedarnath crashed near Gaurikund. All 20 people on board were killed. Among them were five air force personnel, six men from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and nine from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). (The heroes who died)
Landslides and floods have flattened many towns in Uttarakhand, roads have been washed away and communication links have been snapped in the state.
Bodies of six unidentified persons, three of them women, were found floating in the Ganga river in a remote part of Allahabad yesterday. Police have not ruled out that these bodies could be of pilgrims washed away in the Uttarakhand floods.
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