Rudraprayag. The rescue operation to evacuate the pilgrims stranded on the damaged Kedarnath Yatra route in Uttarakhand continued for the fourth consecutive day on Sunday and so far more than ten thousand people have been evacuated to safe places. State Disaster Management and Rehabilitation Minister Vinod Kumar Suman said here that now only 350 pilgrims are left in Kedarnath and 50 in Lyncholi.
He said that the operation to rescue the stranded people is going on since Thursday but the operation of the air operation is being hampered due to the dense clouds in Kedarnath and surrounding areas. He said that due to bad weather, the Chinook helicopter provided by the Indian Air Force on the instructions of the Center could not fly even a single flight while the MI17 helicopter could fly only three flights, due to which 60 people were rescued.
Suman said that in view of the weather conditions, the state government is carrying out an aerial campaign using five small helicopters.
He said that due to bad weather, about 400 people were brought from Kedarnath to Lyncholi on foot in the morning and then from there they were taken to Chardham and Sirsi helipad via helicopter. Apart from this, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and other rescue teams also brought people out through alternative routes.
The secretary said that till 5 pm on Sunday, a total of 2622 people were brought to Chardham helipad and Sirsi helipad by air from various stops on the Kedarnath Yatra route, namely Kedarnath, Lyncholi, Bhimbali and Gaurikund, while 567 people were brought to Chaumasi Kalimath by foot from Bhimbali and Lyncholi.
He said that apart from this, 7185 people were taken from Gaurikund to Sonprayag. Thus, in four days so far, a total of 10,374 people have been evacuated and taken to safe places. The officer said that 350 pilgrims are left in Kedarnath and 50 in Lyncholi, while all the pilgrims have been evacuated from Gaurikund. He said that now only pilgrim priests, shopkeepers, horse and palanquin operators are living in Kedarnath and Gaurikund and if they want to come, they will also be evacuated from there.
He said that arrangements for food, water and accommodation have been made for the people at Sonprayag, Sirsi, Chaumasi, Chardham helipad and Kedarnath helipad. Suman said that on the instructions of the Chief Minister, the number of people engaged in search and rescue operations was increased to 1160 from Sunday. Till now 882 people were engaged in rescue operations.
Due to heavy rainfall and cloudburst on Wednesday night, the Kedarnath pedestrian route was washed away at many places including Lyncholi, Bhimbali, Ghorapadav and Rambada and at other places the road was damaged due to landslides and large stones falling from the hill, due to which devotees were stranded at many places. Meanwhile, the construction of a pedestrian bridge has been started by the army on the washed away road between Sonprayag-Gaurikund on the Kedarnath National Highway.
On the other hand, officials of Rudraprayag district administration said that the help of two sniffer dogs is also being taken in the rescue operation. They said that this operation is being carried out with the help of the army. Officials believe that many people might have moved towards the forests to save their lives due to fear of rain and in view of the possibility of them getting lost during this time, the area is being searched with the help of sniffer dogs.