Uttarakhand floods: Rescuers race against rain; toll crosses 1,000

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New Delhi: The 10,000 pilgrims rescued on Saturday brought the total number of people  evacuated from rain-ravaged Uttarakhand to 70,000.
With heavy rain expected to pummel Uttarakhand starting Monday, the next 24 hours are going to be crucial for rescue teams trying to save around 40,000 pilgrims scattered across Rudraprayag, Chamoli and Uttarkashi districts.
Around 5,000 people evacuated from Badrinath were shifted to a makeshift camp while another 8,000 are awaiting rescue. More than 850 of the 1,000 people stuck at Jungle Chatti, between Gaurikund and Rambara, have also been evacuated.
Many of those rescued had been without food and water for the last six days and required immediate medical attention. The death toll has crossed 1,000, according to the Uttarakhand government, though information and broadcasting minister Manish Tewari put the figure at 557.
The minister stated at a press meet that only 70-80 people were left in Kedarnath and that they were expected to be evacuated on Sunday. Scores of rescued pilgrims were on the brink of starvation, having gone without food and water for nearly a week.
Many of the rescued had tragic stories to tell about how they saw their family members die of hunger.
Next: Race against time say rescue officials 

Race against time say rescue officials 
New Delhi: Others are still searching for the bodies of their kin in the forests around Gaurikund, Bhairavchatti, Jungle Chatti and Garud Chatti.
Seven foreign tourists were evacuated from Lahaul and Spiti district in Himachal Pradesh while another 17 foreign tourists were evacuated from Dharasu district on Saturday.
The government has succeeded in restoring 167 telecom towers with the remaining 120 expected to be functional by Sunday.
While Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde admitted in Dehra Dun to a lack of coordination between government agencies engaged in rescue work, the I&B minister emphasised there was smooth going between the different agencies.
Lt. Gen. Anil Chait, GOC-in-C, Central Command, told reporters in Lucknow that approximately 40,000 square km in Uttarakhand, and over 400 km of roads, were affected by the floods and landslides.
A group of 45 children trapped on the Pindari glacier were rescued by the Army and efforts are on to locate another group on Sunderdunga glacier.
An eight-member team of disaster experts was flown into Kedarnath on Saturday to start photographing the bodies.
The photographs are to be put on the state government’s website. Control rooms set up by various state governments are abuzz with frantic phone calls as relatives continue to try and trace the whereabouts of their loved ones.
In all, 61 helicopters were used on Saturday to evacuate people. Helicopter operations were hampered early Saturday morning due to overcast conditions.
The IAF established an aviation fuel supply bridge at Dharasu to give greater impetus to rescue operations, which had been severely restricted due to non-availability of aviation fuel.
The first C-130J aircraft landed at Dharasu early morning and then went on to "defuel" 8,000 litres of fuel into an empty bowser which had been airlifted on Friday from Sarsawa. The availability of additional fuel allowed for evacuation and rescue operations to pick up.
Army experts also succeeded in creating a heli-bridge at Govind Ghat to transport pilgrims across the Alaknanda river. Helicopters shuttled from either bank of the river as the temporary crossing had collapsed.
Another column conducting road-clearing operations from Badrinath to Lambagar successfully built a footbridge over the Alaknanda by Saturday evening, opening a foot route from Badrinath to Govindghat.
Another column is expected to start evacuating people from Yamunotri, where approximately 700 people are stranded, by Sunday.
Meanwhile, the IAF pressed An-32 aircraft into action carrying 4,200 kgs of bridging equipment to facilitate road repair and construction work.
Till Saturday evening, the IAF had flown 149 sorties, airlifting 1,355 passengers. In all, the IAF’s "Operation Rahat" has flown 768 sorties in which 10,3350 kgs of load has been dropped/landed and 5,347 passengers airlifted.
Rope bridges built by the ITBP and NDRF in Sonprayag have helped evacuate several hundred pilgrims.
Next: Pilgrims walk 2 days to safety

Hyderabad pilgrims walk 2 days to safety
Coreena Suares | DC 
Hyderabad: Srinivas K. who runs a business in the city, and his wife Jyoti take pride in rescuing themselves from the disaster that struck the temple town of Kedarnath.
The couple who returned home on Saturday, recounted how they had walked dozens of kilometres through hills and forests, unmindful of hunger and fear that were constant companions, till they reached safety. Their ordeal lasted 48 hours before they made it to safety.
Srinivas and Jyoti were at Kedarnath when the cloudburst and flashflood overran the temple town. For the whole of June 16, the couple watched from their hotel room as water rushed down with great speed carrying hundreds of boulders and tonnes of debris.
“At about 2 am on June 17, the incharge of the hotel asked everyone to vacate immediately. He was afraid that the bui-lding would be washed away,” Srinivas told this newspaper.
‘We saw a building crash’
The scale of devastation became clear to the couple from city who escaped their ordeal in Uttarakhand when they were standing on the roads, drenched and dead scared till 6 am.
“The most frightening experience was when we witnessed a three-floor lodge next to our hotel coming crashing down,” said Srinivas.The family first decided  to walk to safety at Uttarkashi. They trudged along for 14 km.
“The roads were completely washed, we could not find the way,” Srinivas recounted. “In areas where there were no roads, we climbed the mountains.” And then it happened. “At one point the two of us were lost on a mountain for four hours. There was not a single soul around.”
Srinivas tried his cellphone a few times but could not get a signal. “We felt that we would never get out, but after hours the locals rescued us. Even to follow the locals was difficult as they moved very quickly and also had language issues.” he said.
The couple finally made it to Uttarkashi, safe and sound, after walking for two days without food and water.