Uttarakhand: Fears of epidemic rise as bodies pile up

NEW DELHI: Fears of hundreds of rotting bodies and carcasses triggering an epidemic has intensified among rescue workers and local people in Uttarakhand over the past few days.
At least a few local volunteers who have been to remote corners of the affected stretch are speaking of hundreds of bodies, of both human beings and animals, rotting in the mountains, rivers and even on trees.
"The rescue and relief operations are purely focused on taking to safety those who are alive, as well as to reach assistance to them. Bodies are not at all a focus of the ongoing operations. It is an impossible mission," a senior military officer involved in the operations said.
A team of naval divers, presently on standby in Rishikesh, as well as local volunteers could be deployed for fishing out bodies at a later stage. But for now, the focus is purely on saving as many people as possible, officials said.
Rajeev Chauhan, a local volunteer, said there were dead bodies all the way, and they were beginning to rot. "It is not just the bodies of human beings, but also of animals. They are beginning to rot," he said, expressing concern about an epidemic breaking out.
Another local volunteer involved in rescue and relief operations in Gaurikund said they had seen over thousand bodies, and almost an equal number of carcasses of animals.
Many volunteers complained that the local administration has failed miserably in responding to the calamity. All of them, however, praised paramilitary and military personnel.
"They have yet not been able to extricate bodies from even the temple in Kedarnath," one of them complained about the local administration.
Rescue workers are also reporting that many of the bodies are floating in the rivers and streams in the area.
While several scientific studies have shown that rotting bodies only hold a minimum risk of causing an epidemic, data also shows that they could lead to contamination of water sources, and consequent spread of gastroenteritis. Close contact between the bodies and rescue workers could also result in chronic infectious hazards such as Hepatitis B and C viruses, HIV, tuberculosis etc being transmitted to people around.
Even as the government is preparing to hold the first mass funeral in the next few days, most volunteers are not known to use proper hygiene standards in the disaster zone, risking further the possibility of spread of contagious diseases.

June 18, 2013 - Live From Haridwar Statue of Lord Shiva, Uttrakhand wors...

A bowl of rice for Rs 500 and Rs 180 for a roti in Uttarakhand.

CHANDIGARH: Diminutive-looking Harmanpreet, a 13-year-old Sikh pilgrim, had almost fainted when a waiter at an open-front restaurant quoted Rs 500 for a rice-bowl and Rs 180 for a wheat roti to his accompanying grandfather, while they were stranded on their way to Hemkund Sahib in rain-ravaged Uttarakhand.

They starved for a marathon 43 hours and resisted their hunger pangs until his grandfather spotted Harmanpreet scavenging on garbage picker's collected food.

On Friday, upon his return aboard Punjab government bus, the teenager and his family broke into tears, while narrating harrowing tales of trauma of spending five days with little or no food.

"We wanted to save our money to reach Risikesh. Locals refused to waste their own food on us. They started screaming at us, asking us to run away from their neighbourhood as water reached their terraces. After a 20-km run, I started nibbling at a piece of bread from a garbage bin," said Harmanpreet, who returned in one of the 22 buses sent from Punjab.

Troubles for him, his two brothers - Gurvinder(19) and Jitender (14) - had further mounted when they decided to board a passenger taxi, first to Joshimath and then to Risikesh. A stunning Rs 15,000 for a 200-km  journey for four people is what the driver asked their grandfather Balwant Singh.

Theirs is not the only heart-wrenching experience. Those pilgrims who braved the cloudburst and rains that ravaged Uttarakhand are recounting agonising tales of devastation.

"There was fear and that was only of death and getting away from family. Just less than a metre above my head, boulders were slipping and on my left, the roads were crumbling. The rains and thought of losing life numbed our body and blinded our vision," recalled Rajinder Singh, 37, a Morinda-based economics teacher.

Rajinder, who was fortunate to ride a pillion on motorcycle till Rishikesh, has been filled with remorse on missing three members of his small pilgrimage team as he lost communication with them.

"Cellphone was the only way to remain in touch. I became helpless as I could offer no money but lose my phone for a ride till Rishikesh," he said.

Even as Uttarakhand authorities have claimed that over 50,000 food packets were dropped by choppers on Thursday, many survivors revealed that there was little effort to first rescue them.

"Would a person look to save his life from the debris of collapsed buildings or pick up the food packets. They could have at least sent some canters," said Sukhpreet, a 38-year-old mother of two daughters.

Kedarnath temple stays intact, its surroundings have gone

The famous Kedarnath shrine was virtually submerged in mud and slush where 50 people died in flash floods that claimed over 130 lives in Uttarkhand and Himachal Pradesh and left over 70,000 pilgrims for Himalayan shrines stranded

The holy town of Kedarnath, standing at a height of 11,760 feet and surrounded by majestic snow-capped peaks, was a picture of devastation on Tuesday after the flooded Mandakini river wreaked havoc on it. Officials said many people were missing but could not give an exact number.
The death toll may rise significantly once water recedes and relief teams are able to access the affected areas.
 The shrine of Shiva, visited by Hindu pilgrims from across the world, however, was only partly damaged amid the death and destruction flash floods, cloudbursts and landslides caused in various parts of Uttarakhand for the third consecutive day on Tuesday.
Local residents of Kedarnath said 17 people died in a stampede inside the shrine as panic-stricken people rushed to escape nature's fury.

While officials put the number of deaths across the state over the past 24 hours at 54 - 31 deaths being reported on Tuesday.
The major cause of devastation of Kedarnath town was the breaking of the Kedar Dome, a glacier-like body, that caused a rupture of the Charbari lake reservoir less than 6km from the shrine.
Locals said a huge rock as high as the temple broke away from the Kedar Dome and got stuck some distance behind the shrine.
"This redirected the floodwater and caused it to flow more vigorously towards the temple, damaging one side of it," said local shopkeeper Kunwar Singh Shah.
The shrine, one of the four holy dhams, in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand bore the brunt of torrential rains. About 500 people, including several pilgrims, are said to be missing in the area.
Kukhimath Sub Divisional Magistrate Rakesh Tewari told reporters after his return from Kedarnarth that 50 bodies are lying in areas adjacent to the shine.
"We are right now concentrating on rescuing those who are alive," he said.
River water levels are continuing to rise across the state, clogging roads and leaving hundreds of pilgrims stranded on their way to visit shrines, officials said.
Television footage showed bridges, houses and other buildings crashing down and being washed away by the swirling waters. A swollen river is seen engulfing a giant statue of Lord Shiva in the tourist city of Rishikesh in Uttarakhand.
Fresh rains in Uttarakhand were hampering rescue efforts, with teams from the national disaster management authority camping in the popular pilgrimage town of Haridwar awaiting air lift to the worst-affected districts, officials said.
The state government was also readying food parcels and drinking water to be dropped by helicopters to remote villages cut-off by the torrential rains.
The Ram Bada area, a busy spot near the temple, has been completely submerged and was not visible from rescue choppers.
Army Central Command officials said that nearly 6,000 to 8,000 people are stranded in Kedarnath, 2,500 in Hemkund Sahib and around 8,000 in Badrinath.
Flash floods, cloudbursts and landslips have so far claimed 131 lives in northern India. Thousands have been displaced in Uttar Pradesh where several rivers are in spate.
The death toll in Uttarakhand has reached 102. Rudraprayag district was the worst hit with 20 people dead and 73 buildings, including 40 hotels, along the banks of the Alaknanda swept away in the swirling waters of the river.
A total of 71,440 pilgrims bound for the Himalayan shrines of Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri are stranded in Rudraprayag, Chamoli and Uttarkashi districts of Uttarakhand with the famous char dham yatra having been suspended due to massive landslides and damage to the road network.

Uttarakhand floods - Helpline Numbers

New Delhi: In the wake of deadly torrential monsoon rains and landslides in north India, the authorities have set up helpline numbers to extend help to those whose closed ones are stranded in the flood-affected regions.

A total of 163 people were rescued on Tuesday from flood-affected areas caused by torrential rains in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, disaster management officials said.

While 71 people were rescued in Uttarakhand, National Disaster Management Authority's (NDMA) teams rescued 86 people in Haryana and five in Uttar Pradesh, an NDMA official said.

Following is the list of Uttarakhand control room numbers (district-wise):

Pithoragarh - 05964-228050, 226326, 09412079945

Almora - 05962-237874, 09319979850

Nainital - 05942-231179, 09456714092

Udham Singh Nagar - 05944-250719, 250823, 09410376808

Chamoli - 01372-251437, 251077, 09411352136

Rudraprayag - 01364-233727, 09412914875, 08859504022

Uttarkashi - 01374-226461, 09675082336, 09410350338

Dehradun - 0135-2726066, 09412964935

Haridwar - 01334-223999, 09837352202

Tehri - 01376-233433, 09412076111

Bageshwar - 05963-220197, 09411378137

Champawat - 05965-230703, 09412347265

Pauri Garhwal - 01368- 221840, 08650922201 Here's the list of contact numbers for information regarding pilgrims in Uttarakhand from different regions:

Madhya Pradesh - 0755-2556422, 09926769808

Maharashtra (Mantralaya numbers) - 022-220279990, 022-22816625, 022-22854168

Andhra Pradesh - 40234510

Other numbers:

Uttarakhand State Emergency Operation Centre - 0135-2710334

General enquiry numbers - 0135-2710334, 0135-2710335, 0135-2710233

Army Medical Emergency numbers - 18001805558, 18004190282, 8009833388

Joshimath, Karnaprayag and Govindghat - 01372-253785

Uttarkashi - 01374-226126/161

Chamoli - 01372-251437

Rudraprayag - 01732-1077

Tehri - 01376-233433

ITBP helpline and control room - 011-24362892, 09968383478

Disaster Control Room, Police Headquarters, Uttarakhand - 0135-2717300, 09411112985

Uttarakhand toll may be in thousands, over 70,000 still missing

DEHRADUN: As flood waters ebbed and rain's fury eased on Wednesday, snatches of Uttarakhand's worst natural disaster were emerging. The death toll, officially placed at 150 on the basis of body count, could be frighteningly higher. Estimates were running in thousands. Even chief minister Vijay Bahuguna who described the calamity as a " Himalayan Tsunami", said, "Very heavy casualties are feared."

State home secretary Om Prakash said, "The toll could go much higher as the process of recovery of bodies has not yet started in many places that are marooned." What's raising the fears is the fact that over 70,000 are still missing, and given that rescuers haven't yet been able to reach many ravaged towns. What they will discover there is anyone's guess.

Many of those marooned are pilgrims to the Char Dhams -Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and  Yamunotri. According to Char Dham Yatri Sangathan convenor Varinder Arora, around 25,000 pilgrims are trapped in Damta alone since Sunday, which is 70 km from Yamunotri. He said there are pilgrims from Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Prime Minister  Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi flew over the water-ravaged towns and mud-caked villages. The PM has announced a relief package of Rs 1,000 crore. He said what they had seen was horrifying.

The epicentre of the disaster appeared to be Kedarnath, where the 8th century temple to Lord Shiva was covered under 6 feet of sludge, its surroundings and the 18-km trek to the 3,581 meter sacred spot savaged by landslides and gushing waters. More than 60 villages had been flattened in the vicinity and 90 dharamshalas that shelter pilgrims during the May-June peak season completely destroyed.

Narendra Modi

After he won the Gujarat assembly Elections for the third time, Narendra Modi  visited rebel BJP leader Keshubhai Patel and fed him a laddoo. Right now, Modi is probably figuring out what laddoo to put into LK Advani's mouth after the 2014 elections. The man likes to think ahead. Except that the best laid plans of mice, men and supermen have a tendency to go off-track.Giving his best to the job of derailment is L.K Advani, the patriarch of the BJP, who led the organisation from the margins of the polity to the seat of power on Raisina Hill, only to cede the seat to a more charismatic colleague. His resignation from all posts of the BJP has taken the shine off Narendra Modi's anointment as the Sangh Parivar's commander-inchief for the 2014 elections. Beyond that, and exposing the total lack of grace that attends on power shifts within the BJP, it matters little.
 
Don't Mope, There's Hope
At the time of writing this, hectic negotiations were on, to find a suitable compromise that would assuage Advani's hurt feelings without changing the decision to let Modi lead the charge in 2014. Let us be clear. There is no matter of principle or ideology at stake in the Advani-versus-the rest battle in the BJP. Advani was the face of hardline Hindutva a generation ago. And, Modi is the face of hardline Hindutva today. If one has to hunt for a nuanced difference between the two on this score, it is this: Advani realises that the Muslim minority, whose subordination into second-class citizens remains the goal of the Sangha parivar, has to be offered tokens of respect while operating in India's democratic framework. Modi believes their hurt can be buried under a glitzy mass of economic development. Advani learnt his lesson after losing the 2004 and 2009 elections. Modi has won all his elections in his Gujarat and so is convinced of his thesis.
Like Party, Like Leader
Isn't Advani being undemocratic, standing against the wishes of a clear majority of party men? This is to assume that democracy somehow matters to the internal working of the BJP. Nobody can vouch if there is a democratic process in place in the BJP to choose office decor, but there is no dispute that the party president, other central office-bearers and all other matters of significance in the party are decided by the  (RSS), the font of the ideology of Hindutva and head of the family of organisations ranging from the BJP, the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad to the Vanvasi Kalyan Samiti, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal.
Its ideology identifying Hindutva as India's nationhood inspires, in its very extreme versions, the groups that allegedly undertook the Malegaon bombings. Modi could not have been elevated without the RSS' nod. Advani would be challenging the RSS as well, if he opposes Modi's elevation outright. While he has done this in the past, refusing to apologise for his views on Jinnah, Advani is unlikely to make defiance of the RSS his last stand in the BJP. Because that is a battle he cannot win and he knows it. Advani is probably upset over his portrayal in the media as a relic of the past. Certainly, the activity that has been catalysed by his resignation certainly goes to show that he is no ghost of the dead past and can certainly cast a shadow today, on the BJP's near future.

Compromise, India-Style
Having made that point, Advani is likely to relent, and allow himself to be propitiated by the party accepting some other suggestion of his, such as to create one more campaign committee for the assembly elections coming up, to be headed by someone of Advani's choosing. Having built this party from the ground up, nurtured multiple batches of leaders and greatly contributed to the success of the Hindutva project at the expense of the liberal democratic project of the Constitution, why should Advani walk into the sunset as a dissident and alone? Suppose Advani does decide to stick to his blunderbuss, would it weaken the BJP-led alliance, the NDA? Of course not.
Such alliances are not built on the basis of personalities, but on probability calculations of securing a likely share in power, the hard currency of politics. If the Janatha dal unitedly walks away from the NDA, that would be for fear of losing Muslim votes, not because it finds Advani more charming than Modi.
Advani's rebellion achieves three things. It proves his current relevance. It erodes Modi's credibility: "I have Advani ji's blessings," he had tweeted. And it reaffirms the validity of an old observation, that events and personages occur, as it were, twice in history: the first time as tragedy and the second time as farce. The first time Advani rode his chariot to India's centre stage, hundreds of victims of communal riots that broke out in his trail bore the brunt of the tragedy. In Advani's second coming, there is little doubt about who is playing the central character.