The Flood carnage of Uttarakhand

On the 14th of June 2013, the upper reaches of Uttarakhand was lashed by heavy pre-monsoon rains. The rains continued non stop for 3 days, and that lead to flash flood in Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri & Yamunotri. In effect the entire state of Uttarakhand was affected. Roads were washed off for long stretches, people were washed awya, cars, buses truckes washed off, and thousands of cattle died immediately. The town of Kedarnath was practically destroyed, and only the temple remained. As per one eye witness , on the night of 15th the heap of dead bodies reached a height of 11 feet just outside the temple. All other buildings of the town was damaged to some degree or other.

The state government initial reaction was slow. The news channels initially reported only 23 dead. But as time progressed, slowly the extent of damages became more clear. Very soon NDRM was called in. They took the help of the army , the ITBP and BRTF. By the next day it was estimated that a total of 60000 people were stranded in the hilly regions of Uttarakhand and they needed to be rescued and provided food and shelter and water. Those who were injured needed treatment. To provide for the logistics for such huge operation spread over entire state of Uttarakhand, was a huge task by itself. On 21st June, the CM of Uttarakhand declared the dead could reach up to one thousand. Army pushed more and more helicopters into search and rescue operations, and were working round the clock. By 22nd June, approximately 33000 people have been rescued and have made to safer places.