Road access to Dharali-Harsil disaster site hit; resource supply hampered

Road accessibility to disaster-hit Dharali and Harsil villages in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district remained a far distant hope as BRO and other agencies involved in road repair work could not plug breaches on the Gangotri National Highway, hindering supply of resources to the tragedy site on the fourth day on Friday.

Rescue operation in cloudburst hit Dharali and Harsil villages is still dependent on air services provided by the Indian Air Force and UCADA due to ruptured roadways at various locations on the way to the disaster site. This has rendered the supplies of human resources and important equipment to be used in rescue works at Dharali difficult, officials informed.

Advertisement

“Lack of land access due to blocked roads at various locations is making it difficult to get human resources and equipment to the rescue sites. Only air services are being used to evacuate pilgrims and other people stranded at various areas of the Harsil Valley and take them to their destinations,” said Vinod Kumar Suman, secretary state Disaster Management and Rehabilitation.

Suman said all efforts are being made by Border Road Organisation (BRO), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and other agencies to restore road connectivity but road breaches due to heavy rainfall occurred at multiple locations rendering it difficult to work. Major breaches occurred at Gangnani village and Limchigad area for bridges on Bhagirathi River were washed away on August 5 when cloudburst triggered deluge of water and engulfed the entire Dharali market.

BRO and SDRF were trying to connect the river banks by setting up a valley bridge at Limchagadh.

The Disaster management Secretary however claimed that road repair works are on war footing to resume traffic movement soon. Suman shared this information with HOD National Disaster Management Authority(NDMA) and member secretary Rajendra Singh during review of rescue operations at Dharali and Harsil on the fourth day of the tragedy.

Singh said that essential equipment including dozers, ground-penetrating radar and other necessary tools will be provided soon for relief and rescue operations at Dharali. According to Singh the equipment will be airlifted to all necessary locations with the help of Mi-17 and Chinook helicopters of the Indian Air Force.

Around 550 rescuers with the largest 150 strength of the Indian Army, 145 personnel from ITBP, 112 NDRF men, 73 from SDRF and several other agencies were currently engaged in rescue operations in disaster hit areas.

Meanwhile, the state government on Friday claimed that the number of rescued people stranded at different locations enroute Gangotri on August 7 were 550. Apart from this nearly 150 tourists and disaster victims were airlifted to Matli ITBP station in Uttarkashi and to Chinyalisaur Air Strip in MI-17 helicopter of the Indian Air Force on Friday. So far nearly 700 stranded tourists from other parts of India and those from Uttarakhand were taken to safe places in the last two days.