Floods wreak havoc over large parts of Uttarakhand

Unprecedented flash floods in parts of Uttarakhand have caused severe damage to the famous  Kedarnath shrine and the surrounding valley which are submerged in mud and slush.

Among the 12 Jyotirlingas, the shrine situated at an altitude of 3,593 metres (11760 feet) in Rudraprayag district is one the most revered Hindu centres of pilgrimage, visited by lakhs of people every year as part of the Char Dham Yatra. The yatra has been suspended after the fury of the downpour submerged roads and buildings leaving over a 100 dead in the state.

According to reports, 50 bodies were lying in areas adjacent to the shrine even as it was feared that many more bodies lay under the debris. Around 500 people, including pilgrims, are said to be missing in the area and the death toll, officially pegged at 138, is expected to rise sharply after the water recedes and relief teams are able to access the affected areas.

According to an IBN report, "The Indian Air Force teams carrying out rescue operations and evacuations in Uttarakhand say the process is a tedious one and will be long before it's over. At the moment, people are being evacuated from Kedarnath and being brought to a place where there is an Army camp or some scope of medicine and food."

The entire Kedarnath valley is a picture of devastation after the surging Mandakini River wreaked havoc across the region. The full 14 kilometre trekking route from Gaurikund to Kedarnath via Ram Bada has been severely hit; and loss of life and property is feared to be massive.

Though the temple itself appears to have suffered little damage, a portion of the Kedarnath shrine compound seems to have been washed away.

 5,000 guides and their animals that take pilgrims from Gaurikund to Kedarnath are missing. Authorities say rescue operations in the temple town will be over by Wednesday evening.

Meanwhile, with no signs of any let-up in the rainfall and attendant human misery expected to worsen commentators say the sorry state of affairs points to the country's lack of flood preparedness.

The destruction the flash flood wreaked as also the helplessness of over 55,000 stranded pilgrims are testimony to the fact that while there were clear indications that the monsoon would hit Uttarakhand early - as it did other parts of the country, there was nothing by way of any official warning from the state administration.

Relief and rescue operations, patchy as they were, could hardly provide and succour as the swirling waters washed away the roads, grim evidence of the state authorities' failure to implement recommendations of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

The agency had, in 2008, set out to effect a paradigm shift away from relief-centric and post-event action to a disaster management programme driven by proactive prevention and mitigation measures, but its failure was starkly evident. 

(Also see: Army, IAF mount massive flood relief operations)