Seventeen days after the Uttarakhand disaster, the mammoth multi-agency rescue operations to evacuate all stranded pilgrims and tourists concluded today with a group of 150 people being taken to safety from Badrinath.

Rescue of pilgrims stranded in Badrinath came to an end today with about 150 of them being safely evacuated even as the administration struggled with the task of supplying relief to remote parts of Uttarakhand where foodgrain shortage has been reported in 170 villages.

Uttarakhand chief minister Vijay Bahuguna today announced setting up of Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority to look into planning and development of the flood-hit areas of the state.

Last ditch efforts were today on to evacuate about 900 people from Badrinath amid overcast conditions at some places in Uttarakhand where authorities were grappling with the task of extricating bodies from under tonnes of debris lying in Kedarghati and their cremation.

After an initial delay due to unfavourable weather conditions, rescue work in Badrinath area of flood-hit Uttarakhand resumed today, and nearly 200 pilgrims have so far been evacuated from the shrine, officials said.

A team of experts from Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) will visit the Kedarnath temple in Uttarakhand to assess the quantum of damage caused by the flood fury and restoration required for the shrine.

Home minister Sushilkumar Shinde led the nation in paying tributes to the 20 bravehearts, who died in Tuesday’s chopper crash while rescuing stranded people in flood-ravaged Uttarakhand.

An overcast sky and low visibility at places today did not come in the way of air rescue operations in rain-hit Uttarakhand, even though a thin veil of early morning fog briefly delayed flight of choppers from Sahasradhara helipad and Jollygrant airport.

Rain and fog today delayed rescue operations in Uttarakhand where the death toll in the calamity rose to 807 with 127 more bodies recovered from Kedarnath even as security forces began the process of cremating decaying corpses lying in the shrine premises.

Fresh spell of rains and landslips at a number of places including the higher reaches of Pauri, Chamoli and Rudraprayag districts today hit rescue operations in Uttarakhand where 10,000 survivors still remained to be taken to safety.