Uttarakhand Govt. starts issuing death certificates for 67 missing in Dharali
Dehradun: The Uttarakhand government has begun the formal process of issuing death certificates for 67 people still missing following the flash floods that struck Dharali in Uttarkashi district last month, officials confirmed in a letter issued on September 25.
State Health Secretary R Rajesh Kumar said the letter was sent to all district magistrates and registrars of births and deaths, instructing them to initiate the registration of deaths after an official inquiry. “In case of missing persons, who in all likelihood have died but the body is not traceable, all reasonable efforts should be made to determine that the person has in all likelihood died in the natural calamity that occurred in Uttarakhand,” Kumar wrote in his directive.
The floods hit Dharali village on August 5, sweeping away homes and leaving widespread devastation. While two bodies have been recovered, 67 others—including 25 Nepali nationals—remain unaccounted for despite ongoing search operations.
The September 25 directive invokes provisions of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969. Under the guidelines, the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) will be responsible for conducting detailed enquiries into each missing person’s case before issuing a death certificate. A district magistrate (DM) or additional district magistrate (ADM) will act as an appellate authority in case of objections. Earlier, on August 28, the state government sought directions from the Office of the Registrar General of India regarding the registration of deaths of those missing in the disaster. In response, on September 22, the Registrar General instructed officials to follow the framework established in February 2021, after the Chamoli disaster in which over 200 lives were lost. The missing individuals will be categorised into three groups—permanent residents of affected or nearby areas, residents of other districts present at the site, and tourists or outsiders caught in the calamity.
