Operation to rescue stranded Kedarnath pilgrims enters third day; over 10,500 evacuated

Rudraprayag: The operation to rescue pilgrims stranded along a rain-ravaged trek route to the Himalayan Kedarnath shrine in Uttarakhand entered its third day on Sunday. More than 10,500 people have been evacuated, some airlifted by air force helicopters.

Officials said around 1,300 pilgrims are stranded in Kedarnath, Bhimbali and Gaurikund, and are safe.

Personnel of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and police are engaged in the rescue operation. The Indian Air Force's Chinook and MI17 helicopters airlifted some pilgrims from the area on Friday.

Rudraprayag Superintendent of Police (SP) Vishakha Ashok Bhadane dismissed rumours of a large number of people missing following a cloudburst near the trek-route.

"Almost all reported individuals have reached home," the official said and appealed to the public not to believe rumours.

She said, "Many people may not be able to contact their families due to poor network and bad weather." The pilgrim, who died in a landslide near Tharu camp at Lincholi on Friday, was identified as Shubham Kashyap. He was a resident of Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, District Disaster Management Officer Nandan Singh Rajwar said.

Two mobile-phones were among the items found near the body and have been handed over to the Lincholi police outpost, Rajwar said.

The trek route to Kedarnath suffered extensive damage as a result of a cloudburst in Junglechatti near Lincholi on Wednesday night.

The pilgrims got stranded beyond Bhimbali along the Gaurikund-Kedarnath trek route when a 20-25 metre stretch of the road was washed away by the waters of a swollen Mandakini river.

The trek route to the Himalayan temple is blocked by boulders at Ghoraparav, Lincholi, Badi Lincholi and Bhimbali.

The yatra to Kedarnath has been put on hold for the time being, with an advisory of the Rudraprayag administration asking pilgrims to wait wherever they are till the route is cleared of debris and repaired.

Two helpline numbers -- 7579257572 and 01364-233387 -- and one emergency number 112 have also been issued by the district administration to help people get information about their stranded kin among the pilgrims, the officials said.