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July 31, 2024, was 2013 redux for the holy town of Kedarnath in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand. Heavy rainfall led to landslides, rockfall and other impacts at around 7.30 pm in the Kedar Valley, even as the Char Dham Yatra was on. The exact number of pilgrims missing is not known even as rescue operations continue.
According to Disaster Management and Rehabilitation Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman, a total of 7,234 people were rescued till August 2.
On August 3, 1,865 passengers were rescued and taken to safe places, bringing the total number of people rescued to a total of 9,099.
Till 5 pm on August 4, a total of 10,374 persons have been rescued or brought back. The Indian Army also started a search operation for missing persons on August 4. Two sniffer dogs are being used to search for missing people near Lincholi on the yatra route. Many people may have fled towards the forests to save their lives due to fear of rain. There is a possibility of them losing their way.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami told the media that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah are monitoring the situation. Garhwal member of Parliament Anil Baluni also conducted aerial inspection of the area.
One Chinook and one Mi-17 helicopter of the Air Force have been made available to airlift stranded people to safe places. Along with this, 5 other helicopters are also engaged in rescue efforts. However, air rescue missions are being hampered due to inclement weather. Ground rescue operations are also being affected.
Some 83 personnel of the National Disaster Response Force, 168 personnel of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), District Disaster Response Force and Prantiya Raksha Dal, 126 personnel of police department and 35 fire brigade personnel have been deployed at different places for rescue missions. Thirty-five Aapda Mitras are also providing support.
“We were reminded of the Kedarnath disaster of 2013. The Kanwariyas (devotees of Lord Shiva) were returning late on the evening of July 31. Some people were waiting for the return of their remaining companions at my hotel in Gaurikund. It was raining uphill, in the direction of Kedarnath. Suddenly, the water in the river started rising. We felt a vibration. Before we could understand anything, a lot of water came downwards. We all ran outside to a safe place to save our lives. All this continued for about an hour. The road was washed away in the flood. It had been washed away in the same place during 2013 as well,” Rohit Goswami, a resident of Gaurikund village, who runs food shops there, told Down To Earth (DTE).
He has been providing food to the pilgrims who returned safely for the last four days. Many people, including some from Chamoli, have reached out to him to inquire about their family members. Goswami said at least six people are missing from the surrounding area.
“No data has yet come from the administration as to how many people may still be around the Dham (Kedarnath town). The returning passengers talked about what had taken place before their eyes. Some people were reported injured while crossing Gadera after July 31’s heavy rains. Apart from this, there were a large number of labourers there. There is no information about them. People have also been reported missing from Ghorpadav, where people hire horses and mules to reach Kedarnath. At least 3-4,000 horses and mules are also stranded near the Dham. Their supplies must have been exhausted by now,” said Goswami.
“Until a dirt track is prepared, both people and animals trapped there will be in trouble,” he added.
Shashikant Purohit, who runs an animal shelter in Gaurikund and is associated with the non-profit organisation People for Animals, and his team are delivering supplies for horses and mules through helicopter.
“Animals are trapped on the broken roads between Gaurikund to Bhimbali and from Rambada to Kedarnath. We are dropping food for animals in Kedarnath and Gaurikund. This is how food will be delivered to them until the roads are ready,” Purohit told DTE.
Exactly how many pilgrims were present in Kedarnath around July 31?
The state government had made arrangements for pilgrim registration in all four Dhams – Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri – this year. Travel was allowed only after registration.
But was the system working? On August 1, Rudraprayag District Magistrate Saurabh Gaharwar’s X handle had shared information about 200-300 people being around the Dham. By the evening of August 2, this figure crossed 7,000.
According to Goswami, the Rudraprayag administration continued the yatra even at night. Whereas earlier, the passengers were stopped below Kedarnath Dham or above Gaurikund by 3-4 pm.
The local administration has called reports about persons missing as ‘misleading’. There is official information of 15 deaths across the state due to heavy rains on July 31. Of these, three are from Rudraprayag district.
However, a photograph released by the SDRF showing its personnel locating people trapped under heavy rocks has increased apprehensions that the number of dead or missing may be higher.
Similarly, the administration seems to have not heeded warnings by the India Meteorological Department about heavy rains in the state during the last week of July. A red alert was issued for 31 July.
SP Sati, senior geologist and head of the department of geology at Garhwal University, compared the incident with the 2013 disaster.
“The weather department was continuously warning of bad weather. Then, how did such large numbers of people reach there? Why were they not stopped? A large number of Kanwariyas were also present. No registration was done for them. Even if they go missing, how will their families get to know about the news?” asked Sati.
“What arrangements had the administration made to bring people back in case of disaster? What was the administration’s plan for rescue and emergency situations,” he questioned further while talking about fixing accountability.
The High-Powered Committee formed on the orders of the Supreme Court after the Kedarnath disaster of 2013, had recommended making an emergency evacuation plan for each Dham in its report.
Ravi Chopra, who was the chairman of the panel, said, “As we go up to reach the Kedaranth temple in the Dham, the paths become narrower. Every Dham should have an emergency evacuation plan. The state government and administration are completely careless. No one checks whether the system of registration is working or not. Unless there is political will, nothing will change. How many reports do they need?”
In view of increasing heavy rain in the mountains due to climate change and its increasing intensity, Chopra suggested, “Why is travel not stopped in the same way as the district magistrate closes schools when there is an alert for heavy rains? In future, considering the climatic changes, the travel season will have to be changed.”