Relief efforts continue in flood-hit Dharali, Harsil as water level in temporary lake recedes

Efforts to bring life back on track in disaster-hit Dharali and Harsil continued on Saturday with repair work underway on the Gangotri National Highway and workers engaged in draining a temporary lake in the Bhagirathi river after flash floods.

Personnel engaged in the manual puncturing of the lake said the water level of the lake has started to recede, which is an encouraging sign. Submerged parts like rocks, pillars and the parapet of a road are now visible. A thick layer of silt remains on one side, which will be cleared using a JCB, they said.

The exercise is being carried out in a controlled manner to avoid sudden flooding downstream, the officials added.

As road connectivity to Dharali and Harsil is yet to be restored, essential supplies such as LPG cylinders are being carried on foot by porters and through trans-shipment in vehicles, according to the district emergency operation centre.

Community kitchens and medical camps have been set up in both places to help the affected people, while foodgrain stores have been opened in Uttarkashi, Matli and Mukhba, it said.

A 600 metre stretch of the Gangotri National Highway between Dabrani and Songad is being repaired by the Public Works Department (PWD) and Border Roads Organisation (BRO) personnel.

A devastating flashflood in the Kheer Ganga river on August 5 demolished nearly half of Dharali — the key stopover en route to Gangotri with many hotels and homestays, and neighbouring Harsil, where an Army camp bore the brunt of the flood fury, barely giving time to the victims to run to safety.

A total of 69 people went missing, including nine Army personnel, 25 Nepali nationals, 13 from Bihar, six from Uttar Pradesh, eight from Dharali, five from areas close to Uttarkashi, two from Tehri and one from Rajasthan.

The body of a local man from Dharali was recovered hours after the disaster.

A multi-agency search operation involving National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), Army and the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has been ongoing through the huge mounds of rubble in the flood-hit areas with the help of Ground Penetrating Radars (GPR) and sniffer dogs.

In Dharali, 53 residential houses were completely destroyed, while in Harsil, four residential buildings and homestays were damaged — two fully and as many partially.

Uttarakhand