Uttarakhand floods: 'Opposition will talk but we will proceed,' says Yashpal Arya

Provincial Disaster Relief minister of Uttarakhand Yashpal Arya here on Monday said the opposition will talk but we will proceed with our work.

"Let them say whatever they want, the opposition only talks, this is their job but let us proceed with our work. We will work and show good results, that is our responsibility," Arya said.

Meanwhile, fifteen days after floods hit Uttarakhand killing hundreds of people and sweeping away numerous houses, the evacuation of all the stranded pilgrims and tourists is likely to be over by this evening.

Over 900 pilgrims were airlifted from Badrinath and 650 pilgrims reached Joshimath on foot yesterday. Rescuers from Army are engaged to locate the stranded pilgrims as well as locals on higher reaches in Pithoragarh.

Small helicopters from the Air force and private sector have been pressed into service to drop food packets to the villages totally cut off. About 200 such villages have been identified.

Over one lakh seven thousand and 600 stranded people have been evacuated from the affected areas so far.