Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami visited a hospital in Uttarkashi on Thursday to meet those affected by the recent natural calamity.
During his visit, he checked on the condition of the injured and directed medical staff to provide appropriate treatment to all the victims.
Meanwhile, the Uttarakhand government informed ANI that 274 people stranded in Gangotri and surrounding regions have been safely moved to Harshil.
Among them are 131 individuals from Gujarat, 123 from Maharashtra, 21 from Madhya Pradesh, 12 from Uttar Pradesh, six from Rajasthan, seven from Delhi, five each from Assam and Karnataka, three from Telangana, and one from Punjab. All evacuees are safe and are being shifted to either Uttarkashi or Dehradun.
As part of the Uttarkashi Disaster Relief Operation, Uttarakhand Police reported that those rescued were transported from Harshil to Jollygrant Airport in Dehradun on Thursday using a Chinook helicopter. Medical screenings are being conducted for all evacuees upon arrival.
Relief and rescue efforts are ongoing at full scale, with coordinated support from the Uttarakhand Police, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Indian Army, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), and other allied agencies.
Earlier, CM Dhami also visited the Matli Helipad in Uttarkashi district, where he met people airlifted from flood-hit Dharali village. The evacuation was carried out through a joint multi-agency operation involving the ITBP, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), SDRF, and local authorities.
The Chief Minister assured the evacuees of full support from the state government and interacted with team members from NDRF, SDRF, and the administration involved in the upcoming rescue operations.
According to government inputs to ANI, evacuation flights commenced early Thursday. By 9:30 am, 44 individuals had been rescued from Dharali and Harsil by ITBP helicopters and transported to Matli. Among the rescued was one injured person, who was taken to Matli for immediate medical care. All those rescued are now being shifted to safer zones where they are receiving medical and logistical support.
In Rudraprayag district, persistent rainfall forced a temporary halt to the Kedarnath Yatra on Tuesday. Rudraprayag Police stated that pilgrims returning from Kedarnath Dham were safely assisted by the police and SDRF teams. Authorities cleared blockages along the Gaurikund-Sonprayag route to ensure that pilgrims could be moved to secure areas without incident.
Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Anand Vardhan is overseeing the evolving situation and relief activities from the State Emergency Operations Centre. The state is grappling with widespread monsoon-related challenges, particularly in hilly and remote areas, necessitating extensive evacuation and coordinated rescue measures.
Earlier in the day, NDRF Deputy Inspector General Gambhir Singh Chauhan said that aerial services have been deployed to evacuate stranded individuals. He highlighted the difficulties posed by damaged road networks and limited accessibility, saying, "We have four teams, but since all the roads have been blocked and damaged, they couldn't reach Dharali. Yesterday, 35 personnel were able to reach via helicopters. With the helicopter services beginning, the to-and-fro movement of personnel and evacuees has begun. There was a communication issue as well, but since this morning, our satellite phones have been working. State administration, army, ITBP, NDRF, SDRF and even local people are helping each other in the search and rescue operations."
Drone footage from Bhatwari, on the route to Dharali, showed the extent of road destruction caused by a cloudburst and subsequent mudslides, which significantly delayed the initial rescue response.
Survivors, many of whom were pilgrims en route to Gangotri, shared their experiences and praised the efforts of the rescuers. Arohi Mehra, a tourist from Jalgaon, Maharashtra, recalled, "I was very scared when all of this happened. The villagers helped us a lot. We got a lot of strength when we saw our jawans of the Indian Army."
Another tourist from Jalgaon, Rupesh Mehra, pointed to the logistical hurdles, saying, "Roads have been blocked there. We were rescued with helicopters. We got a lot of help from all the agencies deployed there, and we were taken out from there."
Anamika Mehra, part of the same group, shared her account: "When the incident took place, we were near Dharali. We were on our way to Gangotri for darshan... The next day, the entire country was there to support us. All the teams reached there to rescue us. I want to thank the Indian Army and the Uttarakhand Police. I want to salute the Uttarakhand Govt for providing us with heli service immediately and rescuing us," Mehra told ANI.
On Wednesday, around 190 people were rescued from Dharali following a powerful cloudburst that unleashed flash floods and landslides. The Indian Army, Indian Air Force (IAF), ITBP, NDRF, SDRF, Border Roads Organisation (BRO), and local volunteers have since been conducting joint operations to search for and assist those impacted. The ongoing relief and rescue mission continues to be carried out on a war footing.
