Uttarkashi: Battling weather-related hindrances, rescuers carried out their operations on a war footing on Wednesday in disaster-hit Dharali.
On August 5, many hotels, houses and homestays in Dharali were razed due to sudden floods in the Khir Ganga river. The administration has confirmed one death and 68 others missing in the disaster. So far, more than 1,300 people have been evacuated, according to officials.
Made of wood and iron pipes for the movement of search and rescue teams, a small link bridge, which was washed away due to the rising levels of the Kheer Ganga stream in Dharali on Tuesday, has been rebuilt, Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority (USDMA) said.
The search, relief and rescue operation is being carried out continuously by the Army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and many other central and state agencies in Dharali despite weather-related hindrances, it said.
Efforts are being made to find the missing people by digging wherever the teams of sniffer dogs are giving signals in the disaster-affected areas, it said.
Officials said the missing people will also be searched by locating their mobile phones.
Since the disaster occurred on August 5, people from Nepal, Bihar and other places are reaching Dharali looking for their relatives.
The location of the mobile phones of the missing people will be checked to find them, State Disaster Management Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman said. Mobile towers have the location information of the phone numbers and to find them, their location on August 5 will be checked, he said.
The administration is currently registering the information of all those people who are claiming that their loved ones are missing, Suman said.
The USDMA said efforts are being made by the Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited and the Irrigation Department to open the lake formed due to the stoppage of water flow of the Bhagirathi river near Harshil helipad after the disaster.
The wooden logs stuck in the lake have been cut and removed, and work is also being done manually for water drainage.
Two outboard motor (OBM) boats of the NDRF have also reached Harshil to help open the lake.
The missing people include nine Army personnel, eight from Dharali village, five from nearby areas, one from Tehri district, 13 from Bihar, six from Uttar Pradesh, one from Rajasthan and 25 citizens of Nepal.