Uttarakhand toll may be in thousands, over 70,000 still missing

DEHRADUN (TNN): As flood waters ebbed and rain's fury eased on Wednesday, snatches of Uttarakhand's worst natural disaster were emerging. The death toll, officially placed at 150 on the basis of body count, could be frighteningly higher. Estimates were running in thousands. Even chief minister Vijay Bahuguna, who described the calamity as a "Himalayan tsunami", said, "Very heavy casualties are feared." State home secretary Om Prakash said, "The toll could go much higher as the process of recovery of bodies has not yet started in many places that are marooned." What's raising the fears is the fact that over 70,000 are still missing, and given that rescuers haven't yet been able to reach many ravaged towns. What they will discover there is anyone's guess. Many of those marooned are pilgrims to the Char Dhams - Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri. According to Char Dham Yatri Sangathan convenor Varinder Arora, around 25,000 pilgrims are trapped in Damta alone since Sunday, which is 70 km from Yamunotri. He said there are pilgrims from Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi flew over the water-ravaged towns and mud-caked villages. The PM has announced a relief package of Rs 1,000 crore. He said what they had seen was horrifying. The epicentre of the disaster appeared to be Kedarnath, where the 8th century temple to Lord Shiva was covered under 6 feet of sludge, its surroundings and the 18-km trek to the 3,581 meter sacred spot savaged by landslides and gushing waters. More than 60 villages had been flattened in the vicinity and 90 dharamshalas that shelter pilgrims during the May-June peak season completely destroyed. There were no reliable estimates on the number of pilgrims, but some accounts said bodies were strewn in and around the temple complex and 15,000 people were still waiting to be rescued, of them 12,000 in the temple. The heavy downpours pushed the Mandakini river beyond its banks, flooding more than 200 villages along the 18-km trek from the roadhead to the shrine. "I saw over 60 bodies flowing in the flash floods and about 200 people whom I personally know are missing," said Sohan Singh Negi of Kedarnath village, recounting Sunday night's events. He estimated that 25,000 people, pilgrims, sadhus and residents, were still trapped in areas where the Army rescuers were yet to reach. According to Rakesh Tiwari, assistant district magistrate and his subordinate Rameshwar Dimari, leading the rescue teams on the ground, prominent dharamshalas swept away included the Bharat Sewa Ashram, Kali Kamli, and a Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam hotel in Kedarnath town. "More than 1,000 people are still missing from Kedarnath town," said Garhwal divisional commissioner Suvardhan. He said casualties from nearby towns like Guptkashi, Kund and Agastya Muni had not even started to be counted. There was also no news about the 100 priests at the temple and more than 1,000 traders at Ram Bada town along the pilgrim path. The devastation spread well beyond Kedarnath to another of the holy shrines on the Char Dham pilgrimage. More than 12,000 pilgrims and villagers were stranded in and around Badrinath. IAF helicopters were ferrying people from there to Gaurikund, where relief camps had been set up. Tourists, who had fled the scorching plains with their families, were stranded in Chamoli, Kinnaur and as far as Rudraprayag, officials said.