Location: Shastradhara helipad, Dehradun
The sound of an approaching helicopter sparks a frenzy of activity at the Shastradhara helipad in Dehradun.
28-year-old Tejas Agarwal is one of those who rushes towards the approaching helicopter but is held back by a police cordon.
Anxiety is clear on his face as he jostles in the crowd for a better view of those emerging from the chopper.
"Netas!" He exclaims almost in chorus with those around him. Quickly the crowd turns around to go back to the waiting shed where authorities have stuck lists of those rescued.
"I have been here for almost a week, I have spoken to my 60-year-old parents who are stuck in Badrinath but they still haven't evacuated them," he tells me.
The son of a Gujarati businessman from Ahmedabad, Tejas tells me that he has brought Rs 5 lakh to charter a rescue flight for his parents but right now all helicopters are flying under the coordination of the Uttarakhand government and none available for individual charters.
He's still one of the lucky ones, there are many who haven't heard from their loved ones since last weekend when tragedy struck.
Sunil from Madhya Pradesh hasn't heard from his wife or children who had gone to Kedarnath on the 16th. "The list they have of the rescued is incomplete, it just has first names of people and in a few cases where they are from as well. There are, for example, 10 people named Mukesh. How do I know which one is he?" says Sunil.
There are several like Sunil between hope and despair. Many know the longer the delay, slimmer are the chances of finding survivors. But as each helicopter lands, people rush may bring with it their loved ones or atleast information that they are safe.
6:00 pm: Almost 15 hours since we left Kotdwar and Pauri at 3:30 am, we arrive at Rudraprayag. Next stop Kedarnath
The major roads to Rudraprayag and Kedarnath continue to be blocked. And this includes the National Highway 58 which goes to Mana, one of the last points in India.
Information about which road is open and which isn't is scanty. Those on the road have to pull up alongside cars going the other way to find out if there is still a road ahead or has it caved in or is blocked by a landslide.
As we try and make our way to Rudryaprag and Kedarnath, landslides on the main highway force us to double back at least twice. A journey which should take 45 minutes ended up taking close to 4 hours.
The only route open is a back road to Rudraprayag from the town of Pauri, where we come across several landslides which threatened to turn us away once again. Luckily bulldozers on hand, help clear the roads, even though everyone has to wait.
I caught up with a family that was on its way back to Gujarat after visiting Kedarnath and Rudraprayag ."We are just thankful for being alive. So many have lost so much, we just want to get home. The sentiment is the same for all those stranded on the highway heading out of Chandoli district where Kedarnath is located. Despite hours of waiting, most silently sit in their cars and buses, just happy to be going home.
At Rudraprayag the fury of the Mandakini river is still apparent. Unlike just two days ago when it was 5-6 feet higher in parts, it's still an angry river that's fed by rain water trickling down.In this small town its left a trail of destruction, taking down parts of an existing bridge and one under construction.
At first it looks as if someone has placed several water tanks on the ground, the big black plastic kind you have on most roofs of homes. But then on closer inspection you realise that the tanks aren't on the ground but the ground has filled up to the level of the roof. An entire neighbourhood destroyed or filled up by sand and dirt carried in by a surging river. Incessant rains in the highland over the weekend caused the river to flood and level everything in its path.
Residents of the Shakti Colony situated on the banks of the river tell us that the waters had been rising since Saturday but there had been no official warning to evacuate. A man said that he realised the river was knocking on his door when the water started pouring into his house at 2 in the morning. "Even this shirt I am wearing has been given to me by someone else as I had no time to take anything out," he says.
Closer to the river, the ferocity of the river is even more apparent. As I walk towards the river bank I come across a computer keyboard lying on the ground, next to it a framed photograph with men in fatigues marching, next a cooking pot.
This is the site of the recently inaugurated SSB academy for officers, barely six months after it was launched it lies in ruin. Broken as if it were made of matchsticks. Today the officers enrolled here are busy trying to salvage what ever they can.
3:00 am, between Kotdwar and Pauri: After three hours of sleep an early departure to try and beat the traffic expected on the route as people evacuating from the higher reaches head out of the region.
8:00 am: We arrive on the outskirts of Pauri.
8:15 am: We meet a group of Sikh pilgrims returning from Hemkund Sahib.
Sukhwinder Singh, a farmer, along with his five other friends from Ropar make the annual pilgrimage to Hemkund. This time, heavy rains and the wrath of nature has shut down the route. The six young men travelling on 3 motorbikes say that they witnessed destruction first hand, even capturing some images on their mobile phones.
"The entire Govind Ghat parking was washed away, more than a 100 motorbikes and vehicles were swept away," says Sukhwinder. The group is now trying to work its way back to Ropar but also want me to relay a message, "I urge other pilgrims, family members of those stranded here too, not to come here at the moment as it would only make it more tough for the authorities engaged in rescue work."
As we bid them farewell, I can only imagine what those who witnesses the devastation and those trapped are going through.
On the Kotdwar-Pauri-Srinagar highway, we come across several bulldozers working to clear small landslides which have been cleared but the real damage and destruction lies ahead. It's clear that its going to take months if not years to restore some of the infrastructure that has been lost.
