Uttarkashi, 9 August

Four helicopters were pressed into service to airlift people stranded in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi after flash floods and landslides earlier this week that claimed multiple lives and left behind a trail of destruction.

According to official data, 729 people have been evacuated from parts of the disaster-hit Dharali area that are still cut off following mudslide and flash floods on Tuesday. The district administration has confirmed four deaths and 49 people have been missing since the disaster.

Four helicopters of Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Authority have begun making sorties on the fifth day of rescue operations to rescue people taking shelter in various locations of the district.

A Chinook helicopter transporting a generator set to the relief camp took off from the Jollygrant airport on Saturday morning. Power supply to Dharali and surrounding areas was badly hit by the flash flood.

A Bailey bridge is being constructed at Limchigad near Gangnani on a war footing to improve road connectivity to the affected areas. Work on its construction went on overnight so that it is ready in the next 24 hours.

The Gangotri highway is blocked or breached at several points hampering efforts to transport advanced equipment required to search for the missing through tonnes of debris lying on the flash flood-ravaged site in Dharali.