Flood victims have lauded the assistance provided to them by the army and other paramilitary outfits, as rescue operations intensified to save stranded survivors in Uttarakhand, where over 600 people have died.
Flash floods and landslides unleashed by early monsoon rains have left tens of thousands missing, officials said over the weekend. The death toll is expected to rise significantly.
Houses and small apartment blocks on the banks of the Ganges, have toppled over and been swept away alongwith cars and trucks.
Thousands of military servicemen are involved in rescue operations, with air force helicopters plucking survivors, many of them Hindu pilgrims and tourists, from the foothills of the Himalayas.
Many of the flood victims, who arrived in Mumbai, shared their ordeal as they had to struggle to save themselves.
One of the rescued flood victims, Kamaljeet said on Monday that military personnel provided them with essential items in the relief camp.
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"We had to face lot of problems. We stayed four days in a camp and rest of the time we were on the road. We were stranded in Uttarakhand. The military rescued us. We had nothing to eat for whole day but then military personnel gave us everything in their cam," said Kamaljeet.
About 33,000 people had been rescued so far last week, the interior ministry said.
Railways were running special trains from the devastated areas to take people home.
Another flood victim, Sonu, said that large number of people were still stranded and damage worth millions had taken place.
"Many people are still stranded over there and they are being rescued slowly. I think damage worth millions has taken place. Thousands of vehicles including four-wheeler, two-wheeler had swept away and many people died in front of our eyes. Langar, a Sikh community meal, was organized," said Sonu.
The rains had eased on Saturday but more rain is expected this week, complicating the task of the rescuers.
Rain will fall from Monday onwards in many places in the Himalayan foothills, said a weather official who sought anonymity.
Aid workers are struggling to negotiate roads blocked by landslides to reach the Kedarnath Valley, one of the worst affected areas, where thousands of pilgrims have been stranded.
Kedarnath, the site of a temple to a powerful Hindu deity, is 86 km from Rudraprayag in Uttarakhand.
A flood victim, Kusmawati Pathak, who was rescued from Kedarnath, was elated to meet her relatives in Chandauli district of India's northern Uttar Pradesh state hailed the efforts made by the concerned authorities to rescue them.
"We spent our days by sitting in the temple and then the helicopter came and provided us with biscuit, water and snacks," said Pathak.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has offered Rs.200,000 to the family of each of those who lost their lives and Rs.50,000 to the injured from his national relief fund. He also pledged money to people who have lost their homes.
Singh promised Rs.10 billion in disaster relief to Uttarakhand.
The rains have not hit the summer sowing season in northern India so far, as the planting of rice, sugar, cotton and other agricultural produce is not yet in full swing.
