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Forty-eight hours after floods, cloudbursts and landslides battered Uttarakhand, there was no official assessment on the number of casualties, while unofficial estimates indicated the death toll might rise "manifold".
While the official death toll was 54 this evening, the Press Trust of India put it at 102.
The worst-hit are Rudraprayag and Chamoli districts in the Garhwal division and Pithoragarh in Kumaon.
Among the most-affected is heavily-populated Rambara in Rudraprayag.
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At a joint press conference today, Garhwal Commissioner Subardhan said massive casualties are feared at Rambara, where nothing is visible from choppers, which were flown to take stock of the situation.
"We cannot give any casualty figure since most of the road links have been washed away in the floods," said state chief secretary Subhash Kumar.
Director General of Police Satyabrat Bansal confirmed that nearly 11-12 police personnel were missing in Rambara, on the swollen, raging Mandakini river.
The government's worries were compounded further today when news came that nearly 20-25 people were missing in the Tejam area of Pithoragarh district. "There is no contact with the Tejam area to verify the exact number of casualties there," said the chief secretary.
About 500 pilgrims stranded at the Himalayan shrine of Kedarnath were ferried to safety at Guptkashi today.
Kukhimath sub-divisional magistrate Rakesh Tewari told reporters after his return from Kedarnath that 50 bodies are lying in areas adjacent to the shrine. "We are right now concentrating on rescuing those who are alive." The government has pressed nearly 10 helicopters to make an aerial survey and provide food packets and drinking water to stranded people at various areas.
