New Delhi/Dehradun: Amid predictions of heavy rainfall in flood-ravaged Uttarakhand by the weather department, Army has evacuated the entire Gangotri region on Saturday. Meanwhile, the rescue operations are being carried out on war footing in other affected areas here by different agencies as the death toll from flash floods and landslides may cross 1,000 today. While showing extraordinary courage the Indian Air Force (IAF) virtually established an aviation fuel supply bridge at Dharasu in Uttarkashi to give greater impetus to rescue operations that have been severely restricted due to non-availability of aviation fuel in the upper reaches of Uttarakhand. Earlier in the day, the Army had shifted some 18,000 stranded people to safer places braving adverse conditions. "About 8,500 Army jawans are continuously working to locate the people still stranded in most difficult of places and shift them to safer areas and so far some 18,000 people from Gangotri, Joshimath, Badrinath, Kedarnath, Pindari glacier among other places have been evacuated," GOC-in-Chief of Central Command, Lt Gen Anil Chait told reporters here.As many as 19 medical centres and rest houses have been set up for providing medical aid and rest to the rescued people, Chait said, adding about 40,000 square km area in the hill state has been affected due to flood fury in the rivers caused by cloudburst and about 400 km road network in the Char Dham route has been affected"Some people stranded on the bridge on the Alaknanda on the road from Badrinath to Joshimath and Rudraprayag have been saved," Lt Gen Chaith said. rmy Chief General Bikram Singh had also said that efforts have been stepped up to evacuate people stranded in the hilly terrain as "time is limited". Army has also increased its footprint to over 6,000 personnel from 500 for the operation.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 16:18:36 +0000
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