Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna on Tuesday said that his government and other allied agencies in the hill state are determined to overcome nature's fury and numerous other hurdles in their struggle to restore normalcy in the region after it was devastated by flash floods and landslides.
"Currently, we are working on the mission of bringing back the affected areas into normal conditions and providing the locals with basic necessities of drinking water, food and roads," he told the media in Dehradun.
Meanwhile, Director of Meteorological Observatory in Dehradun, Anand Sharma, said that the forecast has ruled out any possible respite from rain in certain parts of the state over the next few days.
"We are monitoring the signal; if the signal persists then we will see if warning has to be issued, so we are still monitoring it and the models will get updated somewhere in the afternoon. Again if we see, but presently, today the night models, which they are indicating is, as compared to yesterday, it has decreased the rainfall," he said.
Janata Dal (United) leader Shivanand Tiwari commenting on the situation post the Uttarakhand floods said it is time to respect the nature and not exploit it.
"The nature showed its fury and it was not under human power to stop that, but the huge losses we are facing today are due to the negligence and all the negative possibilities and continuation of development works out there (in hilly regions of Uttarakhand)," said Tiwari.
"So, I think it should be a lesson not only to Uttarakhand but to the whole nation that until you learn to respect the nature, we will keep affecting and suffering from its ferocity," he added, while interacting with the media in New Delhi.
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With the improvement in weather in Uttarakhand, pilgrims and locals are being evacuated by air. Sorties of helicopters have begun in Badrinath region of Chamoli district. At least 1500 pilgrims were evacuated yesterday, of whom 500 were airlifted and the rest reached Joshimath on foot.
Rescue and relief work of stranded pilgrims in Dharchula and Munsyari areas of Pithoragarh district is hampered by the weather condition and evacuation is taking place only on foot. Rescuers have expressed their intention to evacuate all the stranded pilgrims by this evening as the state weather department has forecast heavy rain in many places.
A total of one lakh, nine thousand stranded pilgrims and tourists have been evacuated till now. The government has said that stranded locals will be evacuated this evening if weather favours. About 10 small helicopters have been pressed into service for dropping of food packets and other essential items in the affected areas. The government has directed the concerned DM to ensure adequate supply of foodgrains in far-flung villages.
The Vijay Bahuguna Government has intensified its drive to rehabilitate people and restore damaged infrastructure in the affected areas. Teams from the electricity department and PWD have been deployed for restoration of power supply and damaged roads in rural areas. In several worst affected localities, water supply system has been restored.
The Border Roads Organisation has been asked for restoration of the important roads to facilitate movement of traffic and speedy supply of essentials to the affected villages.