2 more bodies found in rain-hit areas of Uttarakhand, 7 still missing

Search operations in rain-ravaged areas of Uttarakhand led to the recovery of two more bodies taking the death toll in a series of rain-related incidents in the state since Monday to six while seven people are still missing.

The body of a woman, who went missing after water from a swollen Pawar river entered villages in Uttarkashi district's Arakot area, was found on Tuesday while that of a 14-year-old girl, Tejaswini, was recovered from a rain-fed stream in the Lakshman Jhula area of Rishikesh, the disaster control room here said.

The girl went missing on Monday after a car in which she was travelling with her mother and brother was swept away by the swirling waters of the stream. They were residents of Rani Mandir area of Rishikesh, it said. Operations are underway to trace her mother and brother.

Those trapped under the debris of a landslide that hit a resort 'Night Paradise Camp' in the Lakshman Jhula area on Monday have been identified, according to police.

They said a body that was recovered on Monday late night from under the debris has been identified as that of Monti Verma (24) and a girl rescued alive has been identified as 10-year-old Kritika Verma.

Kamal Verma (39), his wife Nisha (37), son Nirmit (11) and Nishant Verma (18) are still missing, police said.

They are all residents of HUDA Sector-5, Kurukshetra, in Haryana said Pauri Senior Superintendent of Police Shweta Choubey under whose supervision State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel are conducting the search operation.

On Monday, in Rudraprayag district, a landslide hit a camp at Lincholi on the Kedarnath trek route damaging four shops in which one person from Nepal was killed and a trader went missing. The body of 26-year-old Kalu Bahadur has been found. On the same day, two bodies were also recovered from rain-fed streams in Rishikesh.

On Tuesday, in Rudraprayag district, 42 out of the more than 100 pilgrims who had got stranded after the collapse of a bridge on the trek route to Madmaheshwar were rescued by SDRF personnel. Efforts to rescue the others continues, the Rudraprayag SP's office said in a statement.

Efforts were also resumed to reopen national highways, state highways and a large number of rural roads which remain blocked due to the accumulation of debris from landslides, the disaster control room said.

The Badrinath national highway is blocked by debris from landslides at four points, including at Gadora, Tangni, Gulabkoti and Baldauda. The Chardham yatra remained suspended for the second day on Tuesday.