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.
No comments:
Post a Comment