277 more rescued as govt deploys 4 choppers to airlift people stranded in disaster-hit Uttarkashi

Four helicopters were pressed into service to airlift people stranded in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi after flash floods and landslides earlier this week that claimed multiple lives and left behind a trail of destruction.

On the fifth day of rescue operations on Saturday, 170 people were airlifted to ITBP’s Matli helipad and 107 to the airstrip at Chinyalisaur, Uttarakhand Police said.

According to official data, more than 1,000 people have been evacuated so far from parts of the disaster-hit Dharali area that are still cut off following mudslide and flash floods on Tuesday.

The district administration has confirmed four deaths and 49 people have been missing since the disaster.

Four helicopters of Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Authority are making sorties to rescue people taking shelter in various locations of the district.

The IAF’s Chinook helicopter transporting a generator set to the relief camp took off from the Jollygrant airport on Saturday morning. Power supply to Dharali and surrounding areas was badly hit by the flash flood.

A Bailey bridge is being constructed at Limchigad near Gangnani on a war footing to improve road connectivity to the affected areas. Work on its construction went on overnight so that it is ready in the next 24 hours.

The Gangotri highway is blocked or breached at several points hampering efforts to transport advanced equipment required to search for the missing through tonnes of debris lying on the flash flood-ravaged site.