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Gaurikund landslide: Number of people affected rises to 23; 20 still missing
The personnel involved in the search operation faced challenges as the area witnessed boulder fall, intermittent light intensity rain and drizzle
The number of people affected in the Gaurikund landslide incident in Uttarakhand rose to 23 on Saturday with chances of survival of 20 missing almost nil.
Bodies of three people were recovered from the debris of the landslide on Friday.
They were identified as that of Nepali residents -- Devi Bahadur, 45, Prakash Tamta, and Tek Bahadur.
The affected people include 17 Nepali natives.
NK Rajwar, Rudraprayag disaster management officer (DDMO), said, “We ascertained the identities of three bodies recovered on Friday but their names didn’t match with those in the list of affected prepared yesterday on the basis of inputs of local people. Now the number of affected people has increased to 23, with 20 still missing.”
Teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) on Saturday early morning restarted their search operation for 20 people after the landslide on Thursday late night washed away a clutch of tarpaulin-covered shops along the Kedarnath Yatra route near Gaurikund into the Mandakini river, but the missing people remained untraced till the search operation was suspended at 5.30pm before sunset.
The personnel involved in the search operation faced challenges as the area witnessed boulder fall, intermittent light intensity rain and drizzle at internals.
Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami’s scheduled visit to the spot was cancelled due to bad weather.
Personnel involved in the search operation said the hope of survival of 20 missing was dim with over 40 hours already passed (at the time of writing the report).
With the Mandakini river in spate since Thursday evening, the missing people are most likely to have been washed downstream, even crossing the Kund barrage (2 km downstream). “Those washed away may even have crossed the Kund barrage due to rapid flow of water in the swollen Mandakini. Otherwise, they would have been trapped in the gates of the barrage,” said Lalita Negi, media in charge, adding that a team has been searching at the barrage.
The 20 people who were washed away include Ashu, 23 (Rudraprayag), Priyanshu Chamola, 18, (Rudraprayag), Ranbir Singh, 28 (Rudraprayag), Amar Bohra,28 ( Nepal), Anita Bohra, 26 (Nepal), Radhika Bohra, 14 (Nepal), Pinky Bohra, 8(Nepal), Prithvi Bohra, 7 (Nepal), Jatil, 6 (Nepal), Vakil, 3(Nepal), Vinod, 26 (Khanwa Bharatpur), Mulayam, 25, (Nagla Banjara Sahanpur), Sugaram, 45( Nepal), Bam Bohra, 31 (Nepal), Chandra Kami, 26 (Nepal), Dharamraj, 56 (Nepal), Neer Bahadur, 58, (Nepal), Sumitra Devi, 52 (Nepal), Kumari Nisha, 20 (Nepal)and Rohit Bisht (Utsuya Chopra).
The rescue team engaged in the search operation includes 20 personnel of NDRF, 15 personnel of SDRF and 11 personnel of District Disaster Response Force (DDRF).
Meanwhile, the Rudraprayag district administration on Saturday removed around 30 shops set up illegally in such landslide-prone areas along the Kedarnath track.
Tehsildar Ukhimath Diwan Singh Rana said, “We have removed around 30 shops set up illegally along the Kedarnath track near Gaurikund. More illegal shops have been identified. They will also be removed so that such incidents don’t occur again.”
HT on Friday reported that the mushrooming of shops along the Kedarnath route has taken place despite Rudraprayag and Tehri Garhwal being among the districts to have the highest landslide density according to a March 2023 satellite based study of 147 vulnerable districts by the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC).
Disaster Management secretary Ranjit Kumar Sinha, Garhwal commissioner Vinay Shankar Pandey and Kedarnath MLA Shaila Rani Rawat visited the landslide-hit site and oversaw the search operation. Sinha said, “CM Dhami couldn’t visit the site due to bad weather. All possible help will be made available to the kin of deceased and missing people.” Sinha also instructed the officials concerned to remove people living in unsafe and sensitive areas along the Kedarnath route.
“A survey team will be sent from Dehradun to disaster sensitive areas to take appropriate action,” he said.
Garhwal commissioner Vinay Shankar Pandey said, “Our priority is searching for the missing people. The kin of the affected people will be given all sorts of support, including compensation.”
The Kedarnath MLA said, “Kedarnath area is disaster sensitive. I demand a special package from the state government for the area.”
She said, “Local people are heavily dependent on the Kedarnath yatra. If anybody’s shop is removed, alternative employment opportunities should be ensured.”
According to the State Disaster Control Room, 31 people have lost their lives in rain-related events and an equal number of people have got injured since June 15, 2023. Uttarkashi district has seen a maximum of seven deaths, followed by five in Haridwar.
