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The death toll from floods, landslides and building collapses in Uttarakhand due to intense rain earlier this week reached 64 on Thursday, with at least 11 people still missing, officials said.
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65 still trapped in upper reaches
At least 13 people, including 9 trekkers, died in separate incidents in the higher reaches of the state after being trapped in snowfall, officials confirmed on Thursday. Officials said 65 people are still trapped at different regions in the upper reaches.
Earlier, the official count of the dead was 60.
The confirmation about the death of tourists stranded near Kapkot’s Sunderdhunga glacier in Bageshwar district came on a day when Union Home Minister Amit Shah conducted an aerial survey of the rain damage.
uttarakhand-floods
Amit Shah told reporters at the Jollygrant airport here that the alertness of the Central and state government agencies helped contain the damage in Uttarakhand.
Relief and rescue operations continued in the worst-hit Kumaon region amid efforts to restore connectivity and evacuate people from vulnerable areas.
Took precautionary steps, says Amit Shah
Shah said a heavy rain alert was issued well in advance and led to precautionary steps like halting the Chardham Yatra. “The damage could have been more if this was not done. Timely mobilisation of search and rescue teams and arrival of IAF helicopters to assist in rescue operations helped minimise the potential damage,” the home minister said.
He did not announce any immediate relief package for Uttarakhand and said a detailed estimate of the loss needed to be made first. The home minister said the state was given Rs 250 crore a month ago considering its vulnerability to natural disasters and that can take care of the relief and rescue measures currently underway.
India Today
Loss pegged at Rs 7,000 crore
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that three days of incessant rains which began Sunday night — have caused damage of Rs 7,000 crore in the state.
Restoring the network of damaged roads and bridges and evacuating people to safety is the priority at the moment, he said. At 28, Nainital district has reported the maximum number of deaths.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami met with the families of two people who went missing in the wake of landslides in Dungri village, Chamoli. The CM has assured them of all the possible help: Chief Minister’s Office pic.twitter.com/KpHpCR3ndc
— ANI (@ANI) October 22, 2021
Twenty-five people were airlifted and six others were rescued with the help of rafts in Ramnagar, while 30 families from Sundarkhal and Ramnagar were airlifted and moved to safe locations.
Relief camps have also been set up in Puchdi area, which was flooded.
ANI
Relief camps set up
Fifty-four members of 10 families living in Puchdi Nai Basti have been accommodated in a relief camp set up at the Government Girls Primary School, Poochri.
Altogether 150 people were brought to Ramnagar safely in roadways buses and sent to their destinations, while 97 families affected by floods in Lalkuan have been shifted to a gurdwara and relief camps.
PTi
Meanwhile, the Chardham Yatra, which was temporarily halted on 18 October due to the heavy rain alert issued by the meteorological department, resumed with pilgrims leaving for Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri from Rishikesh Chardham bus terminal and Haridwar bus stand.
Heli services for Kedarnath have also resumed. The weather at the Himalayan temples is chilly but there is no rain.
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