Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat today asked the SDRF to launch an intense combing operation along seven trek routes to the Himalayan temple and search for human remains as skeletons are still being found in forest areas of Kedar valley even three years after the 2013 disaster.
State Disaster Response Fund has been asked to search for human remains and dispose them off after mandatory formalities like DNA sampling and proper rituals.
Asking the SDRF to carry out the operation in a phased manner, Rawat said the first round will continue till October 25 with focus on seven trek routes to Kedarnath which bore the brunt of the June, 2013 calamity.
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The trek routes to be covered in the first phase are the 40-km-long Garurcvhatti-Dev Vishnu-Gomkara-Gaurigaon, the 35-km-long Chaumasi-Kham-Rambara-Kedarnath, 4-km-long Kedarnath-Chaurabari Glacier, 20-km-long Kalishila-Chaumasi- Linchauli, 18-km-long Kedarnath-Vasukital-Khatling, 35-km-long Kedarnath-Mansi-Rasi and 30-km-long Tosi-Pava-Vasukital- Trijuginarayan routes.
The operation will be carried out under the supervision of SDRF Deputy Commandant Prakash Chandra Arya, an official statement here said.
Considering the locals' familiarity with the terrain and geography, they will be asked to conduct a combing on trek routes around Mata on October 26 to October 28.
SDRF rafting team will also scour the banks of rivers in affected areas.
The combing operation will be resumed again after Diwali in the month of November, Rawat said.
Following the flash floods of 2013 that ravaged Kedarnath, several skeletal remains were spotted in the forests of Kedarghati. The remains are believed to be of the pilgrims who perished in the disaster. Over 31 human skeletons were recovered recently along a trek route between Triyuginarayan and Kedarnath.
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