Uttarakhand flood: Koshiyari targets Bahuguna, says 'its total failure of leadership'

The former Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, today criticised Vijay Bahuguna for the disaster in the state, and said "there is a total failure of leadership".

"I can say that in the management of this disaster ... there is a total failure of leadership," he told the media in Dehradun.

Meanwhile, the concerned authorities in Uttarakhand are making all arrangements to ensure that piles of wood are being dropped in the higher regions of the state for the mass cremation of those who perished following the flash floods and landslides unleashed by early monsoon rains.

In Gauchar, officials of the air force and paramilitary forces loaded wood and other material that will be used for cremation.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna today said although the worst is over in terms of calamity, his government is concentrating on providing relief to the stranded locals and others.

"The worst is over now. Our efforts now will be to concentrate on all those in Uttarakhand who have lost their villages, home and all their belongings and help them to revive their assets including agricultural lands," said Bahuguna.

"All the district officials have been asked to take care of all those villages that are facing a shortage of rations and start providing relief to the locals also because all the armed forces will ensure that the pilgrims and tourists stuck will be evacuated within the next two or three days," he added.

Bahuguna earlier said that he expects the death toll to reach 1,000 after rescuers access the remotest areas, which have been cut off by floods.

The army, ITBP and NDRF today concentrated its evacuation operation by air mainly at Badrinath, Gangotri valley and Pithoragarh district of the state. Most of the pilgrims are stranded in these regions.

Helicopters have started sorties from Sahastradhara helipad and Jolly Grant airport in Dehradun and other helipads and airbases across the affected districts to evacuate the pilgrims.