Heavy rains, landslides in Uttarakhand - Tuesday June 18,2013

Monsoon fury continued to wreak havoc in Uttarakhand on Tuesday June 18,2013 with flash floods, landslips and cloudbursts claiming 54 lives and leaving 61,890 Char-Dham yatris stranded in Chamoli, Rudraprayag, and Uttarkashi districts. 

Twenty-five thousand people are stranded in Rudraprayag, 27,040 in Chamoli, 9,850 in Uttarkashi, and 900 in Tehri districts. 

Of the 54 dead, 20 people died in the worst hit Rudraprayag district, nine in Dehradun, nine in Almora, and 16 in Chamoli, Uttarkashi,Tehri, Haridwar, Pithoragarh and Nainital districts.

Twenty-one bridges have collapsed including eight bridges in Chamoli and seven in Pithoragarh districts. 

The situation is so severe that though 10,000 food packets along with glucose bottles and water were sent to the disaster struck areas in Chamoli, Rudraprayag, and Uttarkashi districts, the helicopters were unable to drop the food to the required places as most of the food packets fell into the ferociously flowing flooded rivers.

The floods in the Mandakini river damaged houses in the Kedarnath Valley in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand on Monday June 17,2013

More than 30 people died and 57,000 pilgrims visiting the Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri shrines were stranded in Rudraprayag, Chamoli and Uttarkashi districts on Monday June 17,2013 as unprecedented rains wreaked havoc on Uttarakhand

A submerged bridge over the Ganga in Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand, on Tuesday June 18,2013

Flood-ravaged temple town of Kedarnath

Houses are partly submerged in the flooded Alaknanda River in Govind Ghat, in Uttarakhand on Tuesday June 18,2013

 Submerged houses and trucks afloat in the flood waters of the Bhagirathi River in Shrinagar district of Uttarakhand.Hundreds of pilgrims enroute to the Char Dham Yatra - Badrinath, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Yamunotri- continued to be trapped

People move furniture from flooded homes in Uttarakhand. The worst-hit areas include Rudraprayag and Uttarkashi, where Mandakini river is in spate

Water flows over a statue during a heavy monsoon rain in Rishikesh in the Dehradun District of Uttarakhand

A man rows past a bus partly submerged in flood water in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand

People cross the Laxman Jhula over the flooded Ganga in Rishikesh

The Kedarnath-Badrinath Committee chief, Ganesh Godiyal told  that the temple shrine was safe but everything else around the temple has been destroyed by the floods. He also said 20 temple staff members were missing.
The famous Kedarnath shrine has suffered damage after it was almost completely submerged by floods and mudslides, while shops and houses around it have been razed to the ground. More than 50 people have lost their lives in the flooding at Kedarnath and over 6,000 pilgrims were stranded out of which 800 have been rescued and are at Kedarnath Phata.

Around 8,000 pilgrims are still stuck in Badrinath due to road blocks.All communication lines at Badrinath are down

Seventeen helicopters have been pressed into service to rescue people in Uttarakhand

River Ganga flowing above the danger mark, at Ram Jhula in Rishikesh on Wednesday June 19,2013

 The State Disaster Mitigation and Management Centre has said that casualties in the affected areas may run into thousands with about 90 dharamashalas (rest houses for pilgrims) swept away in the flash floods.
So far, over 15,000 people stranded in Kedarnath and Govindghat on way to Hemkund Sahib have been evacuated to Joshimath relief camps through air and road routes, IG police R.S. Meena told
A large number of places are still inaccessible due to heavy flooding in Rudraprayag, Chamoli and Uttarkashi districts and it is impossible to ascertain the extent of damage caused by the calamity, the IG said

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday June 19,2013 announced a financial assistance of Rs. 1,000 crore to Uttarakhand for disaster relief.
Of this, Rs. 145 crore would be released immediately
Also the PM announced ex-gratia assistance of Rs. 2 lakh each to the families of those killed and Rs. 50,000 each to those who injured from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF).

Further, the Centre would provide from the PMNRF ex-gratia assistance of Rs.1 lakh each to those whose houses were completely destroyed and Rs. 50,000 each to those whose houses were damaged.