Kedarnath Rescue Operations: 1,400 People Evacuated On Fifth Day

More than 1,400 people stranded on the rain-ravaged trek route to Kedarnath were evacuated to safety on Monday as the rescue operations entered its fifth day.

Air rescue operations gained momentum with the weather clearing in the Kedar Valley.

The Indian Air Force's Chinook and MI17 helicopters aided in the evacuation of pilgrims that was earlier being done largely by small helicopters, officials said.

While 136 pilgrims were rescued by IAF and state helicopters, 509 were brought to Lincholi on foot from Kedarnath and sent in helicopters to Chardham and Shersi helipads, Disaster Management Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman said.

Apart from them, 584 people were rescued from Gaurikund via Sonprayag and 172 others via Chaumasi, he said, adding that Most of the pilgrims have been brought to safety from Lincholi, Bhimbali and Gaurikund.

More than 11,775 people have been shifted to safe places since the start of the rescue operations last Thursday.

Only priests, shopkeepers, and horse and palanquin operators are now left in Kedarnath, apart from around 50 pilgrims who opted to stay there.

Adequate arrangements for food, water and accommodation have been made for those moved to Sonprayag, Shersi, Chaumasi, Chardham helipad and Kedarnath helipad, an official said on Sunday.

Heavy rainfall and a cloudburst on July 31 washed away the Kedarnath trek route at many places, including Lincholi, Bhimbali, Ghorapadav and Rambada, stranding pilgrims to the Himalayan shrine. The route was also damaged at other places due to landslides.

The Army has started the construction of a footbridge on the Sonprayag-Gaurikund road on the Kedarnath National Highway. It has also installed a trolley in Sonprayag for the movement of the differently abled, sick and the elderly.

It has deployed two sniffer dogs in the search and rescue operations.

One body was retrieved from under a pile of debris between Gaurikund and the Kedarnath trek route with the help of army sniffer dogs. The deceased has been identified as Gautam, a resident of Yamunanagar in Haryana, officials said.

National Disaster Response Force teams, with the help of sniffer dogs, are conducting searches in the forests and along the Mandakini river.

Disaster Management Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman and Garhwal Commissioner Vinay Shankar Pandey conducted an on-the-spot inspection of the rain-ravaged Kedarnath trek route on Monday and asked officials to restore it for normal movement of people and pilgrims in seven days.

Twenty-nine damaged spots along the route to the Kedarnath shrine need to be repaired or reconstructed.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who is monitoring the search and rescue operations, appreciated the participation of locals in the effort and termed it 'Devbhoomi's culture' of 'Atithi Devo Bhava'.

"The administration is getting full cooperation of the locals in the rescue operations going on in the Kedarnath area,' he said on social media, adding, 'Your tireless efforts prevented major damage by heavy rains."