New Delhi: As the rescue operations to evacuate stranded pilgrims came to an end in disaster-hit Uttarakhand, the Met department has predicted heavy rainfall in several districts of the state from Wednesday. According to the Met department the rain will continue for the next 48 to 72 hours. Heavy rainfall is predicted in Kumaon region, and districts such as Pithoragarh, Nainital, Champawat will be affected.
Meanwhile, NDMA Vice-Chairman Shashidhar Reddy said on Tuesday said that over 11,000 people are feared to be still missing in the flash-floods and landslides in Uttarakhand. Reddy said as per the official data, the count of missing people has reached only upto 3,500 to 3,700 but more than 11,000 people are feared to be missing in the state.
According to the NDMA's recent data, rains and floods had affected 4,200 villages in Uttarakhand besides damaging 2,397 houses and 194 bridges.
So far, 580 people have lost their lives and officially 3,500 continue to be missing. Around 150 locals, mostly women and children, have also requested evacuation in Badrinath area which will be initiated as soon as weather permits, he told reporters in a press conference.
On the possible threat of any epidemic in Badrinath, he said, "Our teams have surveyed the area and there is no threat of any epidemic as it has been completely evacuated." Refuting the allegation of not heeding to prior warnings issued by Indian Space Research Organisation, Reddy said no such information was given by ISRO as it does not have the authority to do so.
The Uttarakhand government has earlier been slammed for ignoring warnings from the Met office before the cloudburst on June 16-17. The Met department had issued several advisories to the Uttarakhand government, warning it about the massive landslides and rains that have ravaged the state, killed hundreds of people and swept away houses. The Met Department had even asked the state government to move people to safer places. It had also advised the state government to scrap the Char Dham Yatra, which attracts thousands of pilgrims every year.
"We had issued warnings on June 14 and since then we have been regularly issuing advisories. The warnings were even published in newspapers and a press release was also issued," Uttarakhand MeT department Director Anand Sharma said.
However, the warnings were reportedly ignored. Governments of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, which was also hit by rains, have denied the Met Department's claim.
Meanwhile, politics over the disaster-hit state continues. Taking a dig at Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, now Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that he rescued pilgrims from Uttarakhand without any bias. "Apart from rescuing pilgrims from MP, our rescue teams have rescued 1810 pilgrims from various states without any discrimination," Chouhan tweeted.
"MP choppers rescued 292 pilgrims of Madhya Pradesh and 247 of other states as well," Chouhan added.
With Additional Inputs From PTI
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