Dehra Dun:
Army helicopters on Tuesday dropped food packets to the floods-affected people of Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand even as relief operations were continuing on war footing.
"Today, Army helicopters dropped food packets to the affected villages," a government official said.
Nearly 28 people have so far lost their lives in the devastation caused by heavy rains, floods and cloudbursts in the district where para-military forces are also participating in the relief operation.
The Army personnel have also tried to build temporary bridges on the swollen Assi Ganga river which had swept away nearly 19 labourers on Saturday following cloudbursts.
A number of villages have been cut off from the rest of the country after a couple of bridges collapsed under the impact of the cloud bursts.
Meanwhile, the situation in Uttarkashi town and nearby villages was limping back to normal after days of incessant rains. Efforts are on to reopen blocked highways leading to Chardham yatra as scores of pilgrims are stranded at various places in Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag and Chamoli districts.
Last year, the government had suspended the Chardham Yatra to all the four shrines -- Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri -- following heavy landslides and torrential rains for nearly a week.