Uttarkashi cloudbursts: Rescuers retrieve one body in Dharali village; 150 rescued, many still missing
Officials rescued150 people from the flood-ravaged mountain village.
Landslides blocked arterial roads leading up to Dharali where dozens of people were trapped and many homes and cars swept away by the raging waters on Tuesday.
Eleven Army personnel from the nearby camp in Harsil were among those missing.
The person whose body was retrieved was identified as that of 35-year-old Akash Panwar, the Uttarkashi Disaster Control Room said.
The picturesque village, a major halt on the route to Gangotri, was devastated by flash floods triggered by a cloudburst on Tuesday afternoon.
According to officials, four deaths have so far been confirmed. The number of missing is estimated at over 60, though the actual figure may be higher as many had gathered in the village for the Har Dudh fair when the tragedy unfolded.
According to Mohsen Shahedi, NDRF deputy inspector general (DIG) operations, three teams of the federal contingency force are enroute to Dharali but have been unable to get there because continuous landslides have blocked the Rishikesh -Uttarkashi highway.
Dharali is about 140 km from Dehradun and usually a five-hour drive.
Two NDRF teams are to be airlifted from Dehradun but they can't be moved as bad weather is preventing a successful sortie, Shahedi told reporters in Delhi.
Teams of the Army, ITBP and state SDRF are undertaking rescue operations in the affected area and about 150 people have been rescued, he said.
"We have been told that four people have been killed and about 50 are missing," Shahedi said.
The Gangotri national highway is blocked at various points with a joint team of more than 200 rescue personnel waiting in Bhatwari for the route to open, added an official at the district emergency operation centre in Uttarkashi.
A bridge built over Limaccha river at Gangnani on Gangotri NH was swept away by the flashflood leaving a team of rescue personnel stranded on way to Dharali.
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