Rains claimed 11 more lives in the North, taking the death toll to 73, even as 71,440 pilgrims bound for the Himalayan shrines remain stranded in the monsoon-ravaged Uttarakhand apart from 1,700 people stuck in Himachal Pradesh.
Though rescue efforts picked up momentum in the flashfloods and landslide-hit areas of Himachal and Uttarakhand with a let-up in the rains and decrease in water level in the Ganga and its tributaries, whole of Uttarakhand still wore a marooned and devastated look.
Flashfloods, cloudbursts and subsequent landslips have claimed 44 lives in Uttarakhand, left as many injured and fully damaged 175 houses across the State.
Rudraprayag was the worst-hit, where 20 people perished and 73 buildings, including 40 hotels along the banks of the Alaknanda, were swept away by the swirling waters of the river.
About 71,440 pilgrims, who were bound for the Himalayan shrines of Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri, are stranded in Rudraprayag, Chamoli and Uttarkashi districts with the famous char dham yatra still suspended due to massive damage to the road network.
About 27,040 devotees are stranded in Chamoli, 25,000 in Rudraprayag and 9,850 in Uttarkashi, disaster management authorities said. Officials said that the water level of Bhagirathi in Uttarkashi and Ganga in Rishikesh had begun to recede.
In Himachal Pradesh, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who was stranded in tribal Kinnaur district for nearly 60 hours due to landslides triggered by incessant rains, was evacuated this morning even as 1,700 people remained stranded at various places.
In Uttar Pradesh, four persons were killed in rain-related incidents even as the State Government issued a high alert in the wake of unexpected increase in discharge in major rivers, including Ganga, Yamuna and Shrada.