817 people from UP missing in Uttarakhand

A total of 817 people from Uttar Pradesh, who went to Uttarakhand before flash floods lashed the hill state, are reportedly still missing.
"According to the reports collected from all districts of the state, 817 people who had gone there have not yet returned nor contacted their people back home" said Relief Commissioner, Venkateshwarlu.
The exact number of people who had gone there is being collected, he said, adding the list of the missing persons is constantly being updated on the basis of the complaints being lodged by the relatives and friends of the missing persons.
According to the government, 32 bodies have been recovered so far from the rivers flowing into UP which are believed to have floated down from the hill state.

"A cell has also been set up in the home department for collecting and streamlining the information about the missing people in Uttarakhand so as to avoid repetition and leaving out of any names," said UP Home Secretary, Kamal Saxena.
According to home department, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has issued guidelines pertaining to the disposal of the dead bodies including 100 per cent photography and keeping them in body bags.

The NDMA has directed for keeping the bodies as long as possible and conducting DNA tests, sources said, adding names of the labs for conducting these tests have also been suggested.

The last rites of the unclaimed bodies, if required, shall be conducted with full respect and proper manner and its full expense would be borne by the state government, according to the NDMA.
"Government order sanctioning Rs 3,500 for the disposal of each body has already been issue," said Saxena.
Giving details of the UP government's role in the relief and rescue operations, Saxena said camps have been set up at Jollygrant, Haridwar, Dehradun among others and 450 Roadways buses were ferrying people free to their destinations.
"Some 1.25 lakh people have already been ferried by the state roadways buses", he said, adding that on the request of the Uttarakhand government, officers and employees have also been made available besides a team of doctors.