This photograph provided by India’s National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) shows NDRF personnel rescuing civilians stranded following heavy rains at Chhara village near Nainital, Uttarakhand.
(National Disaster Response Force via AP)
Uttarakhand Rains Highlights: The death toll due to the heavy rains in Uttarakhand rose to 52 on Wednesday, revised figures published by the state government showed. At least five people are missing.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami earlier today visited Kumaon, one of the worst-hit regions in the state, to take stock of the situation. He told reporters there was “massive damage” across the state, and it would take time to return to normalcy. Dhami has sanctioned Rs 10 crore each to district magistrates for relief efforts. Dhami had Tuesday announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh for the families of those who had lost their lives.
In its forecast, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said rainfall will reduce significantly from Wednesday, with the state likely to stay dry for the rest of the week. Uttarakhand received record-breaking rainfall this week, leading to floods, landslides and destruction of property.
The Army, along with multiple teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), and local authorities are conducting rescue and relief operations. The NDRF has, meanwhile, rescued more than 1,300 people from flood-affected areas in the state and enhanced its rescue teams from 15 to 17, the federal force said on Wednesday.
The Dalai Lama on Wednesday wrote to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressing his deep sadness about the loss of lives and the hardship caused to many people following heavy rainfall in the hill state.
“I offer my condolences to those who have lost loved ones, and pray for them. I also pray for the safety and well-being of people still reportedly trapped under debris and in flooded areas," the Dalai Lama wrote in the letter.
"I very much appreciate that the State Government is engaged in rescue work and is doing its utmost to provide relief to people affected by this calamity," the Nobel laureate said.
As a mark of solidarity with the people of Uttarakhand, I have asked the Dalai Lama Trust (DLT) to make a donation towards relief and rescue efforts, the Buddhist spiritual leader added. (PTI)
As many as 96 people from Karnataka are stranded in Uttarakhand following heavy floods and landslides, of which 92 are confirmed safe, an official said.
According to the Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority commissioner Manoj Rajan, arrangements have been made to bring those who are confirmed safe. He said that among the four people about whom the KSDMA has no information as of now three are marooned in Badrinath and are incommunicado.
"We have no information about them because they are not reachable due to connectivity issue. We hope they too are safe," Rajan told PTI.
The fourth missing person from Karnataka is a soldier with the Border Security Force (BSF) and the BSF control room has been informed about it, the official said. (PTI)
Pilgrimage to the Himalayan temples of Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri resumed on Wednesday with the weather clearing up across Uttarakhand.
The pilgrimage to Badrinath, however, could not resume as the Pipalkoti-Joshinath-Badrinath stretch of the national highway remained blocked at several places due to a landslides, Chardham Devasthanam Board Media incharge Harish Gaud said.
As the weather improved, pilgrims waiting at different stopovers on way to Kedarnath began reaching Sonprayag to visit the temple. (PTI)
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday announced acfinancial assistance of Rs 5 crore for Uttarakhand which has been badly hit by rains.
Khattar spoke to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami over the phone and assured him of all possible help from the state.
He said that the entire Haryana stands with the people of Uttarakhand in this difficult hour. Apart from financial assistance, relief material including tents, ration kits, clothes and medicines will also be sent by the Haryana government.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur also had a telephonic conversation with his counterpart Pushkar Singh Dhami and assured him of all possible help from the state. Thakur expressed heartfelt condolences to the family members of the deceased and prayed to the Almighty to grant peace to the departed souls. (PTI)
Eight trekkers and three cooks accompanying them on a trek to Chitkul in the neighbouring Himachal Pradesh have gone missing, officials said on Wednesday.
The team of eleven people was on a trek to Chitkul via Harsil in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand, District Disaster Management Officer Devendra Patwal said.
Comprising seven tourists from Kolkata and one from Delhi, the team had left Harsil for Chitkul on October 11 and was supposed to reach there on October 19. However, when it did not reach Chitkul on Tuesday, worried trek organisers informed the Uttarkashi District Disaster Management Office, Patwal said.
An SDRF team is preparing to trace the missing trekkers by a helicopter and rescue them, he said. (PTI)
The Karnataka government has established a help desk for assisting stranded people from the state at various places in rain and flood-ravaged Uttarakhand.
People from the state like passengers, pilgrims, tourists and visitors can use the help desk set up by the state government said, Minister for Revenue R Ashoka, “people can give the information which will be shared to Uttarakhand authorities for immediate action and quick response,” he added.
The help desk numbers of the Karnataka State Emergency Operation Centre are: 080 - 1070 (Toll Free) and 080 - 2234 0676.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday expressed sympathy for the Uttarakhand flood victims and urged people to follow safety norms as the situation in the state was still serious. He also asked Congress workers to extend all possible help in the relief work in the flood-hit state.
'My condolences to the Uttarakhand flood victims. The situation is still serious. Do follow the safety norms. My appeal to my Congress colleagues is to extend all possible help in the relief work,' Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.
Tourist town Nainital was returning back to normalcy on Wednesday after being battered by rains which cut off the place from the rest of Uttarakhand, inundated its roads and kept visitors confined to their hotel rooms.
The Kumaon region, under which Nainital falls, has been the worst hit by the rains which began Sunday night, killing at least 46 people in the state as houses collapsed and bridges were washed away by swollen rivers. A furious Gaula river has damaged the tracks at Kathgodam railway station in Nainital, which experienced a record 445 mm rainfall on Tuesday. The district accounts for 29 of the deaths so far.
In Nainital, tourists woke up to a bright morning without a trace of rain on Wednesday and were out on the streets for shopping and sightseeing. Taxis had begun running through the town. (PTI)
The NDRF, which has deployed at least 15 teams to Uttarakhand to assist state authorities in rescue and relief efforts, has been tweeting images and videos which capture the devastation in the state. Here are pictures from Chara, Nainital:
And, here's a video of tourists trekking through rubble to safety:
Dhami says the state government has prioritised rescuing tourists who are stranded after the heavy rains, and the "situation is slowly becoming normal at Char Dham Yatra", reported PTI. The CM had on Tuesday appealed to tourists to stay put until the rain subsided.
Chief Minister Dhami says there is "massive damage" across Uttarakhand due to the record-breaking rainfall this week. "There has been massive damage. It will take time to return to normalcy. Roads were washed away, there were landslides, rivers changed their routes, villages were affected, bridges collapsed," he explained, reported ANI.
"We want to clear blocked roads first. Water had entered houses, local admin has been asked to make arrangements to ensure people don't lack food and water. Rs 10 crore each has been sanctioned for all DMs as relief fund," Dhami added.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah is likely to go to Dehradun this evening to take stock of the situation, according to a report in PTI.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami takes stock of the situation in Uttarakhand via an aerial survey. He is visiting Almora and Champawat districts in Kumaon region today, among the worst-hit parts. He has already visited Rudraprayag, Nainital and Udham Singh Nagar districts.
The topography of most hilly regions makes them prone to landslides. Deforestation, quarrying, road construction and other land-use changes that pay short shrift to ecology increase vulnerabilities of such areas during episodes of heavy rainfall. Devastation in coasts and hills underlines ecological fragility, calls for revisiting development paradigms. Read The Indian Express editorial
In its forecast, the India Meteorological Department has said rainfall will reduce significantly from Wednesday, with the state likely to stay dry for the rest of the week.
Uttarakhand, as a whole, received about 122 mm rainfall during the 24-hour period between Monday and Tuesday. The Mukteshwar meteorological station recorded 340 mm rainfall during this period — the highest-ever 24-hour rainfall since the station started recording data in 1897. Pantnagar also recorded its higher-ever rainfall of 403 mm. Read Anjali Marar's report
The death toll due to the heavy rains in Uttarakhand rose to 46 on Wednesday, revised figures published by the state government showed.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami met people affected by heavy rainfall in Kumaon and Garhwal regions of the state on Tuesday and announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh each to the next of kin of those who had lost their lives in the disaster.
Dhami, who undertook an aerial survey of the affected areas besides interacting with the disaster-affected people in Rudraprayag, Nainital and Udham Singh Nagar district, said people need to have patience in this hour of crisis. All necessary arrangements are being made by the state government, he said, adding that there was no need to panic. (PTI)
Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami chairs a review meeting in Haldwani over the situation in the state.
Around 25 to 30 trekkers stranded in Gomukh Trek in Uttarakhand were rescued by the State Disaster Response Force personnel late on Monday night. The team of trekkers had got stranded along the Gomukh trek on Monday when the road was blocked by boulders falling from the hills one kilometre ahead of Devgad following incessant rains, SDRF jawan Kuldip Singh said.
An SDRF team left for the spot after the Gangotri police post came to know of the incident late on Monday night. The SDRF personnel reached the stranded trekkers after traversing a difficult terrain amid heavy rains and brought them to Gangotri, Singh said. (PTI)