NDTV Ground Report: The Biggest Rescue Challenge Lies Much Ahead Of Dharali

Rescue efforts have entered the fourth day in Dharali, a village ravaged by the recent flash floods in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi district. Communication is yet to be restored in the village where an apparent cloudburst last Tuesday had washed away almost every infrastructure - from homes to homestays, electricity cables, and telephone lines.

But the biggest challenge lies much ahead of that.

About 5 km from Gangnani, a 100-foot bridge that connected the road leading to Dharali had been washed away, leaving rescuers with no option to transport heavy equipment to the affected village.

Trying to overcome this challenge, the Indian Army's engineers and other agencies are now working on a bailey bridge even. This bridge is being constructed with 10-foot iron beams that are being fitted together and pushed towards the other end.

The efforts have been on since last night, and it may take some more time for it to be completed. Once the bridge is built, earthmovers, diggers, and JCB machines can easily cross over towards Dharali.

Rescue efforts are underway in other affected places as well. Specialized radars with ground-penetrating technology are being used to locate bodies buried under the debris.

"We are in the lower camp of Harsil, where a landslide had occurred a few days ago, and some jawans were washed away. We are using a new technology for our investigation, including ground-penetrating radar to locate dead bodies buried under the debris," said a member of the Indian Army's search and rescue team.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who inspected the affected areas earlier in the day, shared the extent of damage caused by the disaster.

"Dharali has been completely ravaged by the disaster. Many roads, bridges, homestays, and homes were washed away. We are trying to restore electricity. Telephone connectivity had been lost. Roads were damaged. About 500 travellers were impacted, out of which 400 had been rescued so far," he said.