Uttarkashi tragedy: Body of missing Army jawan recovered from Bhagirathi

With this recovery, the death toll has risen to two, while 67 people, including 25 of Nepali origin, remain missing since the August 5 disaster

Dehradun: The search teams on Monday recovered body of an Army jawan from the Bhagirathi river at Jhala near Harsil, 13 days after flash floods wreaked havoc in Dharali-Harsil area of Uttarkashi district, according to the disaster report released by the Uttarakhand government. The officials said confirmation of the soldier’s identity from Army authorities is awaited.

Work underway to repair a damaged portion of Gangotri National Highway, in Uttarkashi district, on Monday. (PTI)

With this recovery, the death toll has risen to two, while 67 people, including 25 of Nepali origin, remain missing since the August 5 disaster.

According to officials, the multi-agency search and relief operations are being carried out on a “war footing” under the supervision of the district magistrate and superintendent of police. Nearly 1,056 personnel from the Army, Air Force, Special Forces, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), and Border Roads Organisation (BRO) have been deployed in the operation.

Two Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA) helicopters have been stationed at Matli in Uttarkashi to support the district administration. So far, 431 sorties have been conducted to deliver rations, fuel, relief material and spare parts to the disaster-hit belt. However, sorties scheduled for Monday were suspended due to inclement weather in the area, said officials.

An Incident Command Post (ICP) has been set up in Dharali to streamline coordination between agencies. The area has been divided into multiple operational sectors, each supervised by incident commanders overseeing ongoing search-and-rescue (SAR) efforts.