A mess as roads have collapsed, says relief worker

The situation in Uttarakhand "is a mess" as vast stretches of roads have disappeared and transporting relief to some of the worst-hit areas is near impossible, an aid worker said Tuesday.

"It is a mess right now. It is a complete mess," despaired a spokesperson for ActionAid, which has relief workers in Chamoli, Rudraprayag and Pithoragarh districts.

She told IANS that renewed rains and landslides have made it difficult to reach the areas cut off since the cloudburst and terrible flooding of over 10 days ago.

"Almost all key roads have collapsed. Only helicopters can reach them. And now it's raining," she said.

The spokesperson said relief work was in full swing in Chamoli and Joshimath but the situation in Pithoragarh was far worse.

"The situation in Chamoli is (relatively) better because the army could access it. They have almost completed the relief work."

She said NGOs were facing difficulties due to lack of access to helicopters which have airdropped food and other essentials to the large numbers still stranded in the hills.

The spokesperson reiterated that the overall death toll in Uttarakhand would "definitely be more than 1,000, may be in thousands".

She said there was no trace of the large army of porters, including the many who were not registered with the authorities, who ferried pilgrims between the base area to the Kedarnath shrine.

The original cloudburst that triggered the humongous floods took place just behind the revered Kedarnath shrine, visited by millions each year.

The spokesperson said a lot of aid was being collected in Dehradun, to be ferried to the needy area through some winding routes.

"We are also trying to mobilise the local markets for relief operations," she said. "It would be much easier to get stuff from local markets because transportation would be so much easier."