New Delhi: There seems to be no relief from the disaster caused by floods and landslides after cloudburst in the hilly states in the past few days. 46 missing people in Himachal Pradesh have not been found even on the third day. In Uttarakhand, the weather is a big obstacle in rescue operations. 9099 pilgrims have been evacuated safely, but about a thousand people are still stranded at various places.

Due to heavy rains in Bengal for two days, the possibility of floods has increased in various districts. Here, in Uttarakhand, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami is personally monitoring the relief and rescue operation. The Union Home Ministry is also keeping an eye on the entire situation. Despite this, even after four days, all the pilgrims stranded at Kedarnath Dham and the halts on the footpath could not be evacuated.

Weather became an obstacle

Due to adverse weather, Air Force cargo helicopters Chinook and MI-17 could not fly on Saturday. 1000 of the pilgrims stranded in Bhimbali, Cheerbasa and Lincholi were evacuated to safe places by small helicopters. Teams of NDRF, SDRF and temple committee evacuated 600 people safely from difficult alternative routes of Kedarnath Dham, 400 others were evacuated by helicopters.

More than 9 thousand passengers were rescued

So far 9,099 pilgrims and local people have been evacuated. About 1000 pilgrims are still stranded at various places. The Kedarnath Yatra has been postponed. The police have so far recovered three bodies in the Lincholi area. Two were buried under the debris, while one was found in the Mandakini river. Of these two have been identified as Shubham Kashyap, a resident of Saharanpur, UP, and Neeraj, a resident of Ghimtauli, Rudraprayag. The other one has not been identified. Girish, a resident of Chamoli, who was trapped in the stones, was rescued by the SDRF after 18 hours; he has suffered injuries on his leg.

Heavy rain warning in Himachal has raised concerns

A warning of heavy rain with thunderstorm has been issued in some places of Kangra, Una, Mandi, Shimla, Solan and Sirmaur districts of Himachal Pradesh on Sunday. This has increased the concern of the officials engaged in rescue work. 46 missing people are still missing. On Saturday, the body of a girl was found in Chauharghati of Mandi. 33 people are missing in Samej of Shimla, four in Chauharghati of Mandi and nine in Kullu.

Eight killed in cloudburst 

So far eight people have died due to cloudburst and floods. A search operation has been launched to find the missing people with the help of various equipment including drones. The team engaged in rescue work in Rajban of Padhar subdivision of Chauharghati found a dead body under a rock. The rock was so strong that 16 blasts were done to break it. After this, the body of 11-year-old Anamika was found under the rock. So far seven bodies have been recovered which were washed away in the flood in Rajban after the cloudburst. Live detector devices are being used to find missing people buried under debris in Samej adjoining Rampur in Shimla district. Search dogs have also been included in the search operation. Live detector device is a life detection device, which is used during rescue operations after disasters.

Heavy rains in Bengal cause floods in many districts

Heavy rains in Bengal for the last two days have had a huge impact on life from north to south. Rising water levels of various rivers and release of water from the dams of Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) have raised the possibility of floods in various districts. The Meteorological Department has issued a yellow alert for heavy rains in coastal areas including Kolkata. A red alert has been issued for Alipurduar. There is a possibility of landslides in the hilly areas. Kolkata's Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport is also waterlogged, but air services have not been affected in any way. Avoid travelling to Uttarakhand these days. The weather department has predicted heavy rainfall in Uttarakhand for the next three to four days, so pilgrims should plan their journey carefully. Landslides are occurring on the travel routes, so it is better to avoid travelling at the moment.