The recent helicopter crash near Kedarnath, in which seven lives were lost, has proven yet again that aviation regulatory authorities have not learnt lessons from similar air mishaps in the challenging Kedar valley and have done little to improve flying conditions.
The official toll has now crossed the 1000 mark
With the weather clear at most places across Uttarakhand over the past few days, 64 more bodies were found lying over the ridges in Kedar valley and cremated with necessary rituals, a senior police officer said on Thursday.
The sanctum-sanctorum of the Himalayan shrine has been spruced up under the supervision of a team of Kedarnath-Badrinath Committee and administrative officials.
Snowfall in the higher reaches of Garhwal Himalayas and intermittent rains in lower areas affected the Char Dham yatra on Tuesday with the pilgrimage to the famous Kedarnath shrine suspended till May 16 and yatra to Badrinath halted temporarily.
Heavy overnight rains across Uttarakhand on Monday led to a rise in the levels of most water bodies, including the Bhagirathi River and the Tehri Lake.
The Centre will provide MI-17 cargo chopper to Uttarakhand to ferry heavy equipment to calamity-hit high altitude areas to expedite reconstruction work in the hill state.
With the MeT department warning of heavy showers at various places in Uttarakhand on Friday and major rivers in spate, the Chardham yatra has been suspended even as the Centre decided to provide two Mi-17 helicopters to the state to deal with any emergency.
Over a month after calamity hit Uttarakhand, the state government has finally prepared a roadmap for clearing tonnes of debris left over by the destruction at Kedarnath and extricating bodies still trapped underneath the rubble at the Himalayan shrine and adjoining areas.
However, the team despatched to Kedarnath has been able to build a temporary bridge over a canal between the helipad and the shrine.
Fearing outbreak of epidemics, the ministry is sending a high level team to review the public health measures in the area
With the removal of huge amount of debris in Kedarnath posing the biggest challenge to the state government in calamity-hit Uttarakhand, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna on Monday visited the Himalayan shrine along with a team of Engineers (India) Projects Limited experts to speed up the mammoth exercise.
With weather clearing up, relief operations on Sunday gained momentum in Uttarakhand as the government came out with a roadmap for clearing tonnes of debris and extricating bodies in Kedarnath and adjoining areas ravaged by flash floods over a month ago.
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