U'khand: 5,000 pilgrims still stranded at Badrinath

Dehradun, June 27: Resumption of rain on Thursday morning at Dehradun and Garhwal region hampered the rescue operations and around 5,000 pilgrims were yet to be evacuated from Badrinath.

Indian Air Force (IAF) officials said their helicopters would resume their sorties to rescue the people and deliver the relief material as soon as the visibility improves.

It was also learnt that the administration will resume cremating the bodies at Kedarnath once the rain stops. Eighteen bodies were cremated on Wednesday at Kedar valley in Rudraprayag district after fears about the outbreak of epidemic loomed large.

The mass cremation was scheduled to begin on Tuesday but it could not be started owing to inclement weather.

The total number of bodies at Kedarnath alone is over 200.

The government said it was preserving the DNA of the deceased to establish their identities later since most of the bodies were beyond identification.

Over 5,500 army troops were deployed in Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, Pithoragarh and Chamoil districts of Uttarkhand over the past one week.

IAF sources said the Kedar Valley had been completely evacuated and the rescue operations were expected to end in another two days.

OneIndia News