Two weeks after floods and landslides ravaged Uttarakhand,there is no clarity on the loss of lives. Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal said the toll could cross 10,000 but chief minister Vijay Bahuguna rejected the claim while Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde pegged pegged it at 900. When I returned from a tour of Garhwal I believed the casualty figure could be 4,000 to 5,000. But now,as per my information,I can say the figure can cross the 10,000 mark, Kunjwal said in Almora Friday. Bahuguna,who had earlier put the toll around 1,000,however,trashed Kunjwals claim and said that actual figure would be known once debris is cleared. Chief secretary Subhash Kumar said a clearer picture will emerge in a few days as number of missing persons,said to be around 3,000,is being ascertained. In Mumbai,Shinde said,According to my information,last night the toll was 900. The National Disaster Management Authority,which is assisting in relief and rescue operations,put the death toll at 580 till Friday evening. Meanwhile,rescue work in Badrinath was resumed after some delay caused by bad weather and 1,313 pilgrims were evacuated 600 by helicopters and the remaining by road,Kumar said. Some 500 people remain to be evacuated. Kumar also said efforts are being made to rush essential relief material to over 600 villages in Chamoli,Uttarkashi and Rudraprayag districts,which are cut off since the floods washed away roads two weeks ago.
