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A cloudburst triggered devastating flashfloods in the Harsil area of Uttarkashi district, Uttarakhand, with at least 8-10 Indian Army personnel reported missing from a camp in the lower Harsil region.
Authorities continue evacuating stranded pilgrims from areas around Dharali village in Uttarkashi, focusing on air rescue and relief operations due to damaged roads. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami is overseeing the efforts, with central government support.
Glimpses from India and around the world that will make you smile and cry.
Rescue operations continue in Uttarkashi after flash floods, with dozens still missing. The Army and other agencies are working to rescue stranded people and restore connectivity.
On Tuesday, August 5, 2025, disaster swept through the Himalayan village of Dharali on way to Gangotri with a massive cloudburst leading to flash floods that barrelled through homes, trees and cars.
Glimpses from India and around the world that will make you smile and cry.
Helicopters are being used to airlift people stranded in Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand, following flash floods and landslides. Rescue operations are ongoing, with hundreds evacuated and efforts underway to restore connectivity and power.
A landslide on the Kedarnath route in Uttarakhand killed two pilgrims and injured six, while heavy rain led to the temporary suspension of the Char Dham and Hemkund Sahib pilgrimages.
Rescue operations in Uttarakhand's flash flood-ravaged Uttarkashi district gained momentum, with stranded people airlifted and efforts stepped up to search for those trapped under rubble.
'The lakes up there were already at the brink due to accumulated rainwater, and then snowmelt occurred.' 'When one lake breached, it triggered a cascading effect -- other lakes breached subsequently.'
A cloudburst in the high altitude villages of Dharali in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand led to flash floods, causing damage to houses and sweeping away structures. Several people are feared buried under debris.
NDRF deploys cadaver dogs and rescue teams to flood-ravaged Dharali village in Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand, to search for survivors. ITBP evacuates pilgrims from Gangotri.
Glimpses from India and around the world that will make you smile and cry.
Landslides blocked arterial roads leading up to Dharali where dozens of people were trapped and many homes and cars swept away by the raging waters on Tuesday. Eleven Army personnel from the nearby camp in Harsil were among those missing.
'There is a clear relationship between the Char Dham road widening and these landslides.' 'The situation has further worsened with the massive influx of tourists whose number are running into several lakhs per month.' 'No parameters have been laid down to control tourist inflow and the result is that the Char Dham yatra has seen a sharp escalation in accidents and loss of lives.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Mukhwa temple in Uttarakhand, the winter abode of Goddess Ganga, and offered prayers. The visit is expected to boost winter pilgrimage and tourism in the state. Modi also flagged off a trek and bike rally and addressed a public meeting in Harshil. This comes a day after the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved two major ropeway projects to Kedarnath and Hemkund Sahib worth over Rs 6,000 crore.
A Pawan Hans helicopter, engaged in rescue operations in rain-ravaged Uttarakhand, made an emergency landing at Harsil on Friday.
General Manoj C Pande celebrated Diwali with Indian Army, Border Roads Organisation and Indo Tibetan Border Police officers and troops during his visit to forward areas in the Harsil sector in the Garhwal Himalayas on Sunday, November 12, 2023.
After a 59-year wait, an ancient trade route across a 150-year-old bridge is open near the India-China border in Uttarakhand.
'It is a breathtaking journey towards the Tibet border, especially since the Border Road Organisation has accomplished a fabulous feat in black-topping the road till the border.' 'One is left with a salute for the dauntless Indian soldiers who spend the winter in these majestic, though inhospitable areas (we were told that the temperature comes down to minus 40 in winter),' recounts Claude Arpi.
Ten more bodies were recovered from the site of an avalanche in Uttarkashi, taking the death toll to 26, the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering said on Friday.
Addressing soldiers in Lepcha after celebrating Diwali with security personnel stationed near the border, Modi said the circumstances of the world are such that the expectations from India are constantly rising.
Continuing with his annual tradition of celebrating Diwali with soldiers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday arrived in Kargil.
Incessant rains lashed Uttarakhand for the second consecutive day on Monday, prompting the authorities to advise Chardham pilgrims not to proceed to the Himalayan temples till the weather improves.
Modi invoked the epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata to assert that it is in Indian tradition to avoid war be it in Lanka or Kurukshetra and the country stands for world peace.
"The Chinese military has done military build-up not only just in Ladakh but also in other sectors including Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh wherever it shares borders with us. The build-up includes troops and heavy weaponry which are deployed in rear positions," government sources told ANI.
The Indian Army has launched one of the biggest human rescue operations in Uttarakhand. On Thursday it mobilised troops for rescue and relief efforts, as it simultaneously reached out to over 8,000 people on all four different axes, viz, Rishikesh-Uttarkashi-Harsil-Gangotri axis; Rudraprayag -Kedarnath axis, Joshimath-Badrinath axis and Dharchhula -Tawaghat axis in Pithoragarh district, a statement said.
To trek in a pristine winter under zero degree conditions, head for Harsil.
Senior officers recounted extreme Chinese brutality to the Indian prisoners, with some of them being pushed over cliffs and soldiers' bodies being recovered from the Galwan River.
Twenty one years ago, the Indian Army and Indian Air Force fought a bloody and bitter war to evict Pakistani intruders from the icy heights in Kargil. Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd) salutes the lesser known heroes of the Kargil War.
'The Himmatsinghji Report is still 'missing'.' 'It is a great loss for the knowledge of India's borders.' 'It would have an immense value at a time China is bound to shift its attention to other border fronts in the Himalayas,' notes Claude Arpi.
An overcast sky and low visibility at places on Wednesday did not come in the way of air rescue operations in rain-hit Uttarakhand, even though a thin veil of early morning fog briefly delayed flight of choppers from Sahasradhara helipad and Jollygrant airport.
So far, the Central Sector has never seen active hostilities, remaining peaceful even through the 1962 war. A reason for the Central Sector having remained peaceful is the towering Himalayan watershed that defines the border.
Over 6,000 people are feared to have been killed in the devastating floods, cloudbursts and landslides in Uttarakhand in June, the government said on Tuesday.
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