New Delhi:
A total of 1,350 people have been evacuated from Badrinath while over 3,500 remain untraced in flood-hit Uttarakhand even as a United Nations (UN) agency estimated that the number of missing could be over 11,000.
"According to data available till yesterday (Sunday), 1,350 have been evacuated from Badrinath-800 by air and 550 by road. But there are some locals too like shopkeepers and ashram dwellers who also are being evacuated," National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Vice Chairman M Shashidhar Reddy told reporters in Delhi on Monday.
The number of dead stands at 580 while the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has rescued 8,634 people from Kedarnath taking the overall evacuation to 1,08,253 people, he said.
"According to the quantum of FIRs filed, the number of missing stands at 3,500-3,700 but a report prepared by a UN agency along with some NGO pegs the figure in excess of 11 thousand," Mr Reddy said.
He added that the maximum deaths have reportedly occurred in the Kedarnath and Rambada areas while the number of injured registered so far has risen to 3,119.
"Though the excavators which were supposed to be airlifted yesterday in special Mi-26 helicopters could not be taken due to bad weather, about 385 heavy machines and bulldozers are locally in operation cutting through the debris," Mr Reddy said.
However one "heavy team" with all equipment to assist the state administration are in Guptkashi from where "they will be airlifted to Kedarnath" to search for dead bodies near the shrine.
Another team is in Joshimath from where they will proceed to Badrinath.
With various state agencies at work in Uttarakhand, he said "he had heard that different information was being disseminated from time to time leading to contradictory figures" and this should be looked into.
He said the total number of affected villages has risen from 2,000 to above 4,000.
"The number of villages affected is 4200 from 2,375 mark two days ago. While 2,865 have their road connection restored, 1,335 still await connectivity. About 737 are still not ready for traffic," he said.