Army choppers drop relief material in flood-affected areas

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Army helicopters on Thursday continued to drop relief materials to flood affected areas of Uttarkashi district amid reports that there was another cloud burst in the remote Mori area of the district.

Army's MI-16 and MI-17 choppers are dropping relief materials in the flood-affected areas, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna told reporters here. He said the government was trying its best to provide succor to the affected people in Uttarkashi district where 28 people were killed and hundreds of others rendered homeless following heavy rains and cloudbursts on Saturday.

The chief minister said another cloudburst had occurred in Mori area of the district yesterday but the district administration was still collecting reports about any loss of life or property.

A team has been sent to the area, officials said. Meanwhile, efforts were on to airlift stranded people from various areas of the district.

"Only handful of people have been left stranded at different areas of the district," a top official said. Though intermittent landslides were continuing in several areas of the Garhwal region, the chief minister said Rishikesh-Badrinath highway has been thrown open for traffic.

To a question whether the Chardham yatra would remain suspended during the monsoon season, Bahuguna said, "If one highway is open, another is blocked then where is the need to suspend Chardham yatra."