Uttarakhand: Around 2,500 people remain to be evacuated

Around 2,500 people are awaiting evacuation from Badrinath, while rescue and relief operations at Kedarnath are over, Indo-Tibetan Border Police Director General Ajay Chadha said. (Uttarakhand floods: Full coverage)

In the last leg of their rescue operations in Uttarakhand, the Army on Thursday said it has completed evacuation of all pilgrims stranded in Harsil. "532 stranded people have been evacuated by air from Harsil, leaving just 100 to 150 locals to be evacuated. With this, all pilgrims have been evacuated from Harsil. At least 450 people were evacuated by helicopters from Badrinath," it said.

Hampered by intermittent rains, rescue efforts in multi-agency operations continued throughout the day and over 1,000 stranded pilgrims from Badrinath and 511 from Harsil were evacuated. Air sorties by choppers were halted for a few times during the day due to bad weather.

With air rescue operation intermittently on hold, many people were moved by road from Badrinath to Joshimath.  They were moved in vehicles for most of the 43-km journey.  The last stretch, of about 13 km, had to be walked.

Soldiers are leading this trek for different batches of pilgrims to lift morale and offer reassurance, said officers in charge. Lieutenant General Anil Chait, the Central Army Commander, himself led a group of 500 people out of Badrinath. (Army Commander walks with 500 people out of Badrinath)

Over 100,000 people have been evacuated from the state so far in a heroic and vast rescue operation led by the military.

Army Chief General Bikram Singh is scheduled to visit the affected areas today to boost the morale of around 8,000 troops involved in rescue operations.

Amid fears of epidemic outbreak, the focus shifted to retrieving bodies buried in debris and expediting mass cremation of more victims in Kedarnath town, which bore the brunt of destruction from floods and landslides after heavy rains pounded the hill state nearly a fortnight back.

With the air thick with foul smell of decaying bodies in the area adjoining the Kedarnath shrine, the health department has expressed apprehensions about spread of various diseases. It has warned people in adjoining areas near Kedarnath not to consume river water as it may be highly polluted.

An earthquake of slight intensity, measuring 3.5 on the Richter scale, hit the Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand today. No loss of life or property was reported from anywhere in the district.