Dehradun:
The Uttarakhand state administration is still counting its losses but the picture already looks grim. 3000 are reported missing, more than a thousand are believed to be dead, and many villages are still cut off. Rebuilding lives and livelihoods is still the biggest challenge now for the government.
When disaster struck two weeks ago, over 4000 villages were completely cut off, where no roads or mules could reach. Though that number has reduced, 1335 villages are still isolated from the rest of the state. The state government is now pressing choppers into service to drop relief material so the stranded residents here can get some ration. In fact, till the time road connectivity is fully restored to these villages, the state government will provide ration free of cost.
As many as 496 villages have no power and the government is exploring the option of giving solar lamps.
Of 279 relief trucks that have reached the state from different parts of the country with relief material, 274 have been dispatched to affected districts. 50 trucks have been sent to Guptakashi, 31 to Gauchar and Joshimath among others.
The task ahead is massive. Crucial road links have been breached and though work is on to get them to be at least motorable, inclement weather and landslides are compounding the problem.
And this is just the infrastructure we are talking about. People's life savings and investments have just washed away with the swollen waters of the rivers. With no clarity on the immediate restoration of the Chardham yatra that's intrinsically connected with the livelihoods of many locals, even their economic future is uncertain.