More than 400 people, including devotees stranded on the rain-ravaged road to Kedarnath, were evacuated and sent to Lincholi to be airlifted as the rescue operation continued for the fourth consecutive day on Sunday.
Uttarakhand Disaster Management and Rehabilitation Minister Vinod Kumar Suman said only 350 passengers remained to be evacuated from Kedarnath and 50 in Lyncholi. More than 10,000 people have been moved to safe places so far.
Due to bad weather, the Chinook helicopter provided by the Indian Air Force on the instructions of the central government could not be used even once, while the MI17 helicopter could only be used to rescue 60 people in three years, he said.
Instead, five small helicopters were deployed in view of the weather conditions, he said.
About 400 people were taken from Kedarnath to Lincholi on foot in the morning due to bad weather and were later sent by helicopters to Chardham and Sirsi, the official said.
State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and other rescue teams also evacuated people through alternative routes.
Till 5:00 pm on Sunday, 2,622 people were airlifted from various stops of the Kedarnath Yatra route, Kedarnath, Lincholi, Bhimbali and Gaurikund to Chardham helipad and Sirsi helipad, while 567 people were airlifted from Bhimbali and Lincholi to Chaumasi Kalimath on foot. he said.
Another 7,185 people were taken from Gaurikund to Sonprayag, taking the total number rescued in four days to 10,374, Suman said.
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The official added that 350 pilgrims were still stranded in Kedarnath and 50 in Lyncholi, while all the pilgrims were evacuated from Gaurikund. The route to Kedarnath suffered extensive damage due to cloudburst at Junglechatti near Lincholi on Wednesday night.
Roads were washed away at many places, including Lyncholi, Bhimbali, Ghorapadav and Rambada, on the route of the Kedarnath trek. At some other places, roads were damaged by landslides and large rocks falling from the hill, leaving pilgrims stranded at many places.
Meanwhile, the Army has started construction of a footbridge on the washed-out road between Sonprayag-Gaurikund on the Kedarnath National Highway.
Officials believe many people would have moved to the forests for their lives due to fear of the rain, and searches will be underway in areas where there is a high probability of getting lost during this time.
