Uttarkashi cloudburst: Rescue efforts being ramped up as scores still missing at Dharali
Dharali
,
Uttarakhand
, as scores of people remain unaccounted for and the region remains cut off due to multiple landslides and road disruptions.
Officials said over 70 civilians have been rescued from the impacted area but several are still missing, including nine Army soldiers who have not been traced since their camp got hit by rushing waters. The Army has placed its elite para troops on alert to bring them into the area and has also kept medical teams on standby.
The army, in coordination with the civil administration,
Indian Air Force
, National Disaster Management Authority (
NDMA
) and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (
ITBP
), has intensified search operations with Lt Gen Naveen Sachdeva, Chief of Staff at the Central Command, saying that troops have been operating on a war footing.
Medical personnel and search crew have been flown in by the armed forces and specialised engineers with road clearing equipment have also been deployed to restore road connectivity to the area. Special equipment like ground-penetrating radars and drones have been sent to the affected area, besides search and rescue dogs.
Officials said road access has been disrupted at multiple locations like Bartwari, Linchigad, near Harsil, Gangrani, Dharali and repair work is currently underway. The military helipad at Harsil and a civilian helipad at Nelong are currently operational with choppers being used to ferry the injured.
A doctor checks a woman at the district hospital in Uttarkashi
"Over 225 army troops are on the ground, including engineers, medical teams and rescue specialists. Two reconnaissance radar teams have also been inducted," officials said. They said Chinook and Mi-17 transport helicopters are in place at Jolly Grant and will commence operations to induct personnel and evacuate civilians.
While an exact number of the missing has still not been drawn up, officials said that over 50 people are unaccounted for, which includes tourists, locals and construction crew working at Dharali.
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Time of India
8 hours ago
- Time of India
Uttarkashi cloudburst: Rescue efforts being ramped up as scores still missing at Dharali
NEW DELHI: Rescue efforts are being ramped up in cloudburst-affected Dharali , Uttarakhand , as scores of people remain unaccounted for and the region remains cut off due to multiple landslides and road disruptions. Officials said over 70 civilians have been rescued from the impacted area but several are still missing, including nine Army soldiers who have not been traced since their camp got hit by rushing waters. The Army has placed its elite para troops on alert to bring them into the area and has also kept medical teams on standby. The army, in coordination with the civil administration, Indian Air Force , National Disaster Management Authority ( NDMA ) and Indo-Tibetan Border Police ( ITBP ), has intensified search operations with Lt Gen Naveen Sachdeva, Chief of Staff at the Central Command, saying that troops have been operating on a war footing. Medical personnel and search crew have been flown in by the armed forces and specialised engineers with road clearing equipment have also been deployed to restore road connectivity to the area. Special equipment like ground-penetrating radars and drones have been sent to the affected area, besides search and rescue dogs. Officials said road access has been disrupted at multiple locations like Bartwari, Linchigad, near Harsil, Gangrani, Dharali and repair work is currently underway. The military helipad at Harsil and a civilian helipad at Nelong are currently operational with choppers being used to ferry the injured. A doctor checks a woman at the district hospital in Uttarkashi "Over 225 army troops are on the ground, including engineers, medical teams and rescue specialists. Two reconnaissance radar teams have also been inducted," officials said. They said Chinook and Mi-17 transport helicopters are in place at Jolly Grant and will commence operations to induct personnel and evacuate civilians. While an exact number of the missing has still not been drawn up, officials said that over 50 people are unaccounted for, which includes tourists, locals and construction crew working at Dharali.
NDTV
9 hours ago
- NDTV
NDTV Ground Report From Uttarakhand Army Camp Where 9 Are Missing
Broken asbestos sheets, upturned cars, boulders all around present the grim picture of an Army camp devastated by the Uttarakhand flash floods. Two cloudbursts on Tuesday that led to flash floods - one in Dharali and another in the Sukhi Top area near Dharali caused widespread destruction. Dharali is just 4 km from the Indian Army camp at Harshil, which remains cut off due to multiple landslides and road breaches. As rescue operations in the flash floods-ravaged Uttarkashi entered the third day on Thursday, the Army said 70 people have been rescued so far and more than 50 are missing. Nine Army personnel -- one junior commissioned officer and eight jawans -- are also reported missing, it said. According to officials, at least four people have been killed in the disaster. The Indian Air Force (IAF) has deployed Chinook heavy-lift helicopters to carry out relief and rescue operations in disaster-hit areas of Uttarkashi. The state has been witnessing heavy monsoon-triggered disruptions, especially in its higher-altitude regions, prompting large-scale evacuation and relief operations led by multiple agencies. According to the Uttarakhand Police, the people rescued under the Uttarkashi Disaster Relief Operation were brought from Harshil to Jollygrant Airport, Dehradun, on Thursday by a Chinook helicopter. Medical check-ups are being conducted for all the evacuees at the airport. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami visited Pauri Garhwal today to meet those who were rescued from disaster-hit areas of the district. "190 people were rescued immediately on the same day... So far, 274 people have been rescued... Food supplies are being sent there... Army personnel are engaged in rescue operations...," the Chief Minister said today. The state government has urged people to avoid travel to sensitive zones and is closely monitoring dam levels to prevent further escalation. The hill state's fragile terrain has further intensified the crisis, with the Alaknanda, Mandakini, and Ganga rivers flowing above danger levels. Deadly floods and landslides are common during the monsoon season from June to September, but experts say climate change, coupled with urbanisation, is increasing their frequency and severity. Torrential monsoon rains have hampered rescue efforts, with communication limited and phone lines damaged.
Time of India
10 hours ago
- Time of India
‘Rubble high as 3-storey bldgs, may take monthsto clear': Herculean task for rescuers at Dharali
Dehradun/Uttarkashi: Two days after a flash flood devastated Dharali village near Gangotri, true scale of the destruction is becoming evident now. A 500-metre-wide swathe of land is buried under debris and sludge, with mounds reaching up to 50 feet high — enough to swallow a three-storey building. As of Thursday morning, two bodies were recovered. Sixteen people — nine Army personnel and seven civilians — remain officially missing, though officials fear the number may be higher. IG (SDRF) Arun Mohan Joshi, one of the senior-most officials at the site, called the destruction "unprecedented in scale". "This is no ordinary operation. We're talking about debris as high as the rooftops," he said. Nearly 400 personnel from multiple agencies, including Army, ITBP, NDRF and SDRF, are on the ground conducting search and rescue operations. Joshi added that a drone team was sent upstream along the Kheer Gad stream to assess whether a lake or pond formed following the deluge. NDRF commandant Sudesh Kumar Drall said the volume of debris is massive, making the search operation extremely challenging. "We've deployed sniffer dogs to locate those possibly trapped beneath the rubble. Local residents are helping us identify spots where people were likely present during the flash flood, so we can focus our search efforts more effectively," he said. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Your Finger Shape Says a Lot About Your Personality, Read Now Tips and Tricks Undo Experts believe that it could take "several months to completely remove the debris from the disaster-hit Dharali village". Rescue efforts are being hampered by the challenging terrain and damaged infrastructure. Villages like Jhala, Mukhba and Harsil remain partially cut off, with the highway blocked at six points. A crucial bridge near Gangnani, swept away in the torrent on Monday night, is yet to be rebuilt. To aid evacuation, six helicopters deployed by the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority completed 85 sorties on Thursday between Harsil and Matli, ferrying stranded residents to safety. Additionally, the Indian Air Force's Mi-17 helicopter carried out one sortie, Chinook completed two, while the Cheetah and ALH helicopters flew four and one sorties, respectively. Meanwhile, the National Disaster Management Authority convened a high-level review meeting chaired by member Rajendra Singh in Delhi. Officials from the Army, Air Force, BRO, IMD, ITBP and NDRF were present. A central team is expected to visit the disaster-hit areas in Uttarkashi next week. Singh also directed state officials to monitor a newly formed lake in the upper Harsil region, urging a joint Army-state team to assess its risk and ensure controlled water discharge. Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has mobilised resources to restore key road links. BRO DG, Lt Gen Raghu Srinivasan, who visited Harsil on Thursday, said, "Our teams are in mission mode to launch a Bailey bridge at Limchigadh, where a 30m-long bridge was washed away, cutting off access to Dharali, Mukhba and nearby villages. We're also repairing four severely damaged sections near Bhatwari to reconnect Gangotri and Dharali. " Heavy machinery for Bailey bridge will be moved once the road at Papadgadh is cleared of debris, he added, after conducting an aerial survey of NH-34 and meeting Army officers at Harsil camp. To restore power, Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited on Thursday airlifted a 125 KV generator to Harsil using an IAF Chinook helicopter. "Three more gensets are at Jolly Grant airport. Two will be flown to Harsil on Friday. Our teams are working round-the-clock to restore electricity in the affected areas," said UPCL MD Anil Kumar. (with inputs from Ashish Mishra) Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and s ilver prices in your area.
