New Delhi: The toll in the `Himalayan tsunami' rose to 556 while thousands of pilgrims were still stranded in the upper reaches of the state on Friday, the fifth day of the Uttarakhand tragedy.
The focus of the rescue operations remained the Kedarnath valley, where 250 people were stranded. Rescue personnel who reached the Kedarnath temple by helicopter were shocked by the extent of the damage.
Except for the Kedarnath temple, all the buildings adjoining the shrine had been destroyed by huge boulders and mud brought in by the devastating flash floods.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, said on Friday night that 556 bodies were recovered from under the debris. “Five hundred and fifty-six bodies have been recovered and there are reports that more could be buried under the debris,“ he told a TV channel.
Kedarnath, now a ‘burial ground’
Uttarakhand agriculture minister Harak Singh Rawat, who went to Kedarnath to make a firsthand assessment, was horrified at the extent of the tragedy.
“The centre of faith has been turned into a burial ground. Bodies are scattered all over. Only the sanctum sanctorum of the temple remains intact.” The problem in the Kedarnath valley, ITBP chief Ajay Chadha told reporters in the capital, is that local villagers, fright
ened that there may be more flash floods, are also demanding to be evacuated to safer areas. “The result is that the number of people being rescued has increased. Rescue operations should take another two to three days.
Our logistics are improving and we hope the weather conditions remain good,” said Chadha. “It is for this reason that we are trying to make bigger helipads so that large helicopters like M1-17s can bring food and water supplies while ferrying back more people,” he added.
Many bodies have been recovered from different points along the Ganga as it flows through Hardwar.
Hardwar SP Swaroop pointed out, “Bodies have been recovered from different areas and have been sent to the district hospital for an autopsy and also to be given an identification tag. We expect the numbers of bodies to keep increasing. We have sought the help of more medical staff.”
Next: `I was holding my wife, water took her away'

`I was holding my wife, water took her away'
Amar Tejaswi I DC
Hyderabad: A pilgrim from the city had the horrific experience of watching his wife slip from his grip and be swallowed by the raging flood that destroyed Kedarnath town on June 16.
That fateful morning, K. Pandu, a retired government employee from the city, had darshan at the temple along with his wife, K. Shobha, and returned to their hotel. “At about 9.30 am, there was heavy rain and within some time, there was a huge rush of water. Its intensity was growing and we were panicking,“ Pandu told this correspondent after being airlifted to safety.
As the flood grew, others in his group, who were staying in different rooms at the hotel, clambered to the roof. “On the spur of the moment, I got out of the building with my wife,“ he said.
As they searched for a safer place, the fury of the water grew and the couple wanted to return to the hotel. But it was not to be.
“More water flooded the place. I held a strong pole with one hand and my wife's hand with the other. But I couldn't hold on for long. She was washed away in the flood,“ he said, his voice trembling. Recalling the tragedy, city pilgrim K. Pandu said that the rain continued throughout the day, though it weakened by the afternoon and the flood also receded.
During those terrible hours, Pandu held on to the pole. “I didn't know what to do. If I stepped out, I would also be washed away . I couldn't do much except cling on to the pole. I was just looking in the direction my wife was swept away, hoping she would be able to hold on to something. But she wasn't visible,“ he said.
When the rain abated, Pandu ventured out to look for his wife. “It was difficult to move, there was water and debris everywhere,“ he said. “I went around a little but my wife was nowhere to be found.“
As night fell, and he continued to wander in the dark, his co-pilgrims advised him to give up the search for his own safety.
When he returned to the hotel, the water had entered the lower floors where he had his room. All his belongings, money and phone were lost. Mr Pandu spent the next three days waiting for the relief helicopters, with little food and water and the numbing cold.
“People would say helicopters would airlift us. We were given a location to assemble. But there were hundreds of people and the copter could carry only four or five people,“ he said. His turn came after three days.
“They were only airlifting the locals. We would sleep at some makeshift place and then wake up early in the morning and reach the location hoping we would be airlifted,“ he said.
Was there a portent of things to come? It appears so.
“We reached Kedarnath the previous day, and there was a mild tremor with some heavy rain. My wife and I rushed out of the hotel. There was complete darkness,. We went some distance from our hotel but couldn't find our way back,“ he said.
Pandu and Shobha spent the night at another place. The following morning, they went to the hotel, had darshan at the temple and returned to their hotel when disaster struck.