Torrential rains kill 73 in northern India, strands 73,000

June 18, 2013 – INDIA – Rains on Tuesday claimed 11 more lives in North India, taking the toll to 73, even as 71,440 pilgrims bound for the Himalayan shrines remained stranded in monsoon-ravaged Uttarakhand, apart from 1,700 people stuck in Himachal Pradesh. Though rescue efforts picked up in flash flood and landslide-hit areas of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand with a let-up in the rains and decrease in water level in the Ganga and its tributaries, the whole of Uttarakhand still wore a marooned and devastated look. Hundreds of homes and roads were washed away. Flash floods, cloudbursts and subsequent landslips in Uttarakhand have claimed 44 lives, left as many injured and destroyed 175 houses. Rudraprayag was the worst hit where 20 people perished and 73 buildings, including 40 hotels along the banks of the River Alaknanda, were swept away by the swirling waters. Pilgrims bound for Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri, are stranded in Rudraprayag, Chamoli and Uttarkashi districts with the ‘Char Dham’ yatra still suspended due to massive damage to the road network. While 27,040 devotees are stranded in Chamoli, 25,000 in Rudraprayag and 9,850 in Uttarkashi faced the same situation, said disaster management authorities. In Himachal Pradesh, chief minister Virbhadra Singh, who was stranded in tribal Kinnaur district for nearly 60 hours due to landslides, was airlifted by a chopper hired by the Congress, even as 1,700 people remained stranded at various places. In Uttar Pradesh, four persons were killed in rain-related incidents. Incessant rain held up the first two batches of the annual Kailash Mansarovar Yatra. Meanwhile, people living in low-lying areas along the River Yamuna were evacuated as its water level crossed the danger mark of 204.83 metres at 1pm and reached 205.24 metres at 2.30pm, officials in the flood and irrigation department said. –Hindustan Times