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Rescuers retrieve one body in Dharali amid bad weather; NDRF team reaches site

Uttarakashi (Uttarakhand), Aug 6 (PTI) As the sun set over the flood-ravaged Himalayan village of Dharali with 150 people rescued and one body recovered on Wednesday, fears mounted for those still trapped under the massive river of sludge that buried scores of houses, trees and cars. Bad weather was hampering rescue operations even as an NDRF team reached the site in the evening. Tonnes of rubble lay on the site with the ITBP, Army and SDRF personnel rummaging through it for those trapped underneath amid continuing rain and road collapses. Officials said the army's Ibex brigade which had helped in rescue operations in the Mana avalanche of February is preparing to take the help of ground penetrating radars to search the missing. Two more NDRF teams are en route to Dharali but have been unable to get there because continuous landslides have blocked the Rishikesh-Uttarkashi highway. According to Mohsen Shahedi, NDRF deputy inspector general (DIG) operations, two NDRF teams are to be airlifted from Dehradun, but they can't be moved as bad weather is preventing a successful sortie. Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami to get an update on the situation and assured him of the Centre's assistance. Modi also met MPs from Uttarakhand -- Anil Baluni, Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah, Trivendra Singh Rawat and Ajay Bhatt -- at the Parliament House and was briefed on the current situation and the ongoing rescue operations. Dhami did an aerial survey of the affected areas and met the kin of the missing people in Dharali assuring them of all support. "Today I will be staying in Uttarkashi to closely monitor the relief and rescue operations in Dharali. I am also continuously reviewing the rescue operation by holding meetings with the officials," he said in a Facebook post. "Rescue operations are being carried out with full readiness by SDRF, NDRF, Army, ITBP and the local administration," he said. Dharali is about 140 km from Dehradun and usually a five-hour drive. Landslides blocked arterial roads leading up to Dharali where dozens of people were trapped and many homes and cars swept away by the raging waters on Tuesday. Eleven Army personnel from the nearby camp in Harsil were among those missing. The person whose body was retrieved was identified as that of 35-year-old Akash Panwar, the Uttarkashi Disaster Control Room said. A 28-member group of tourists, who are natives of Kerala, is also among the missing. "They said they were leaving from Uttarkashi to Gangotri around 8.30 am that day. The landslides occurred along that route. We have been unable to contact them since they left," a relative of one of the missing said. Four people are suspected to have been killed in the disaster that struck the ecologically fragile area following what officials described as a cloudburst on Tuesday afternoon. At least half of Dharali was buried under the fast-flowing mudslide of slush, rubble, and water. The village is the main stopover on the way to Gangotri, from where the Ganga originates, and is home to several hotels and home stays. A man told PTI Videos that he had not been able to contact his brother and his family since 2 pm yesterday. "There is my younger brother, his wife, and his son. We had a hotel and a house in Dharali. It all got swept away. I spoke to him last at 2 pm yesterday. I have been assured by the chief minister that a helicopter will be pressed into service to look for them tomorrow if weather permits," he said. The Gangotri national highway is blocked at various points with a joint team of more than 200 rescue personnel waiting in Bhatwari for the route to open, added an official at the district emergency operation centre in Uttarkashi. A bridge built over the Limaccha river at Gangnani on the Gangotri National Highway was swept away by the flash flood, leaving a team of rescue personnel stranded on the way to Dharali. During the day, Dhami held a meeting with officials at the State Emergency Operation Centre here to review the rescue efforts. He surveyed the flooded area in Dharali and Harsil from a helicopter, and later met the injured soldiers and relatives of those missing in the flood. "The rescue work is apace. Teams from the army, ITBP, and SDRF have reached the spot ... A road has been blocked. The DM and an SP rank officer are on their way to the spot. It's a challenging situation as it is still raining there," he told PTI Videos. Dhami said arrangements have been made for medicines and food, and 160 police personnel have been deployed to oversee the disbursement of rations. Three nodal officers have been appointed from the CM's office. "Every life matters to us," the chief minister said. Over 100 ITBP, BRO, and SDRF personnel are engaged in rescue operations on the site and many more are on the way to join in soon, said Home Secretary Shailesh Bagauli. The Indian Army has kept its MI-17 and Chinook helicopters on standby to look for the stranded. They will take off only after the weather clears. At least 60 people are said to have gone missing, but the number is likely higher, as many had gathered for the Har Dudh fair in Dharali village when the tragedy struck, locals said. Meanwhile, experts said that Uttarkashi received only 27 mm of rain on Tuesday and this is "too little for a cloudburst or flash flood of such devastating intensity". Data available with the meteorological department confirms there was no cloudburst, one of them said. Col Harshvardhan, commanding officer of 14 Raj Rif, is leading the relief and rescue operations with a 150-soldier team. Despite its soldiers going missing and its base being hit, the team is working with full courage and determination, Defence Spokesperson Lt Col Manish Shrivastava said. Shrivastava said. It is raining heavily in various parts of Uttarakhand, with many rivers in spate. Major rivers like the Mandakini in Rudraprayag, the Banganga in Haridwar, and the Bhagirathi in Devprayag are flowing above the danger mark, the Central Water Commission said in a bulletin. A landslide occurred late on Tuesday evening along the railway tracks passing through the Motichur range of the Rajaji Tiger Reserve, bringing the movement of trains from Haridwar towards Rishikesh and Dehradun to a halt. A help desk has been set up at Haridwar railway station for passengers. PTI ALM NES ZMN

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