The Times of India
written by Staff
Saturday June 22, 2013
NEW DELHI - At least 150 people, mostly elderly and children, have died of a combination of hunger and exposure to the harsh weather conditions in the inaccessible areas of Kedarnath valley and the toll is expected to rise as more rescue work is carried out on Saturday with over 1,000 people believed to be stranded in the region.
Survivors said they did not receive any food during the past five days even though tens of thousands of food packets were dropped across affected areas in Uttarakhand by the authorities.
Sources in security forces, which rescued 1,500 people from Kedarnath valley on Friday, said people who had run off to the hills and jungles to escape the floods have suffered the most as they were completely cut off and remained inaccessible for days. They had no shelter to shield them from the harsh weather and did not receive food as they were scattered all over. A combination of these factors meant that the sick, infirm and the elderly could not withstand five days of starvation.
"Mostly, the young have survived. But many have had to see their loved ones dying a slow death in front of their eyes. It's worse than being swept away in the deluge. Survivors told us that they did not even receive a packet of biscuits in the days that they were stranded," an ITBP officer who was part of the rescue operation in Kedarnath valley said.
Most of these deaths were witnessed around Rambada and Junglechetti areas of the Kedarnath valley which were completely cut off and personnel from ITBP and armed forces had to slither down choppers to rescue people from these areas. "We have airlifted 275 people from Rambada and 350 victims from Gaurigaon. Rescue was difficult due to massive and steep landslides but we have been able to reach all the inaccessible areas. We hope to rescue 1,000 more people from Kedarnath valley on Saturday," ITBP chief Ajay Chadha said.
ITBP jawans were able to connect Junglechetti, Junglepani and Rambada on Friday even as 500 victims stranded in Sonprayag were evacuated on foot to Gaurikund after authorities managed to build a makeshift road between the two places.
Problems have been compounded with forecast of rain on Monday and authorities are taking a slew of measures — from building new helipads and enlarging old ones to building makeshift bridges and roads — for quick evacuation.
"We are running against time. But there is good coordination among forces and we have rescued most of the people from difficult areas such as Kedarnath. We hope to wrap up rescue by Sunday," Chadha said, adding that the workload had increased as local villagers too needed to be evacuated.
To ensure more people are evacuated, ITBP jawans have decided to stay back at rescue sites instead of going to their camps so that the last chopper sortie can carry victims and not them, sources said.
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