BHATWADI, India (Reuters) -Indian rescuers used helicopters on Thursday to pluck to safety people stranded by flood waters in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, nearly two days after a sudden inundation and landslides killed four, with dozens still missing.
Roads crumpled or blocked by boulders kept rescue teams from reaching the village of Dharali in the state’s district of Uttarkashi, a tourist spot, after a wall of water hit the area, submerging homes and cars in sludge.
The helicopter rescuers were given instructions needed to ensure the operation was effective, the state’s chief minister, Pushkar Singh Dhami, said.
“The heli-rescue operation … started in the affected areas this morning,” he added in a post on X.
Army rescuers used their hands, as well as machinery, to shift boulders from roads turned into muddy, gushing rivers, in visuals from the region.
About 200 people had been rescued over Tuesday and Wednesday, army and state officials said, but many more were feared stranded and missing.
Dharali, a hamlet of about 200 people that stands more than 1,150 m (3,775 ft) above sea level, is a pit-stop for Hindu pilgrims climbing to the temple town of Gangotri.
“We saw Dharali falling before our eyes,” said Anamika Mehra, a pilgrim headed for Gangotri when the flooding hit.
“We were very scared, but the locals helped us and the army reached the next day to rescue us,” she told news agency ANI.
Uttarakhand is prone to floods and landslides, which some experts blame on climate change.
(Reporting by Saurabh Sharma; Writing by Shilpa Jamkhandikar; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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