Dharaali Crumbled; People Buried Under Soil, ISRO Releases Satellite Images

New Delhi: In Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi, a flash flood occurred, and even on the fifth day, there is no precise count of missing people. Residents say that around 200 people may have died in the village of Dharaali alone. However, the BJP government of Uttarakhand claims only six have died and around 50 people are yet to be found. The Uttarakhand SP had said that rescue operations are difficult due to the lack of exact numbers. Only two bodies have been recovered from under the soil in two days. Dharaali village had a population of 400. Apart from permanent residents, there were others staying in hotels and homestays. Half the village was washed away in the flood. Those living in the lowlands and near the market escaped. People in the disaster-hit area say that there is no chance of anyone surviving alive in Dharaali. The Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who visited the flood zone, said 247 people were rescued from Dharaali. The BJP government has not even been able to prepare an approximate list of missing persons by collecting information about residents and those rescued. Besides Dharaali, about 12 other villages were also affected by the flood disaster. There are no clear figures for those places either.

ISRO released satellite images showing the extent and severity of the disaster in Uttarkashi. The images were taken by the Cartosat-2 series satellites, with pictures from before the disaster on June 13 and after the disaster on August 7. The satellite images clearly show that the villages of Dharaali and Harsil were washed away in the intense flash floods. Entire hillsides have collapsed. Houses and other buildings have disappeared. Several bridges and roads have been washed away. The course of the Khir Gad and Bhagirathi rivers has changed. At the confluence of the two rivers, more than 20 hectares of land is now covered with soil and sand deposits. The images highlight the potential for similar disasters recurring in the Himalayan region.

Malayali Group Trapped in Uttarakhand Rescued A group of Malayali tourists trapped in Gangotri during the Uttarakhand flash floods were rescued and airlifted from Uttarkashi. The 28-member group included 20 people from Mumbai and eight from Kochi. In total, 335 people were airlifted from Gangotri, of whom 199 were brought to Dehradun.

Those rescued from Dharaali described the terrifying scene to the media. Soil was piled up to a height of about 30 feet. They have no idea how many people were buried underneath. They escaped by crawling through a soil tunnel. The group said those were the most frightening days of their lives.