NDRF personnel near a helicopter which is to be used for rescuing stranded people on the Kedarnath trek route after landslides triggered by cloudburst, at Gaucher, in Chamoli district, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024.
Credit: PTI Photo
Dehradun: The rescue operation along the rain-ravaged Kedarnath trek route was concluded on Tuesday with more than 15,000 people, including pilgrims and locals stranded in different places rescued during the seven-day exercise.
More than 15,000 people were airlifted or evacuated manually to safer places in record time during the operation, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said.
Dhami thanked all agencies, including the SDRF, NDRF and the Disaster Management department, involved in the operation and the locals for extending their help in the endeavour.
He also expressed his gratitude to the Centre for its support, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi for sending the IAF's Chinook MI17 helicopters which helped immensely in successfully rescuing a large number of people.
Dhami, who closely monitored the entire rescue operation visiting the affected areas twice during the weeklong exercise, said the entire focus now is on restarting the yatra by road route at the earliest by repairing and reconstructing the damaged infrastructure.
Heavy rain on July 31 triggered a number of landslides along the Kedarnath trek route, leaving thousands of pilgrims stranded in Kedarnath, Gaurikund, Lincholi and Bhimbali.
It had led to the suspension of the yatra a day later. The yatra will continue to be on hold until the trek route to the Himalayan temple is fully repaired.
However, the helicopter services to Kedarnath will be resumed on Wednesday with the pilgrims going to the temple by air to be given a rebate of 25 per cent on their tickets.