Uttarakhand: Nearly 6000 missing people to be declared dead

Dehradun, July 15: The Congress-led Uttarakhand government is all set to declare around 5500 to 6000 missing persons of the flash floods tragedy to be dead, on Monday. It's been more than a month since India witnessed its one of the worst natural calamity, that claimed at least 5000 lives.

The decision to officially announce the missing people as 'dead' comes after the rescue operations by the Army came to an end. It will be a major setback for the family members of the missing persons, who have been frantically searching for them pillar-to-post, while holding their pictures.

Earlier, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna had said the list of dead will be sent to the chief secretaries of all states.

At least 2000 people from Uttar Pradesh and more than thousand from Madhya Pradesh are reportedly missing. The list of missing people also include persons from Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana, Maharashtra and Gujarat.

The death toll was recorded highest from Kedarnath, Gaurikund and Rambara, where thousands of pilgrims were gathered.

Presently, the state government is contemplating to restrict the number of pilgrims on the Kedarnath route to 2,000, far less than the eight to ten thousand who frequent the route daily during the Chardham yatra.

In an order to avert any untoward tragedy in the future, the government is also planning to start an online registration system that will stop pilgrims in Rishikesh if the weather takes a turn for the worse.

The major part of the Uttarakhand was washed away in an iota of a second when the tragedy hit the holy state.

OneIndia News