NEW DELHI: The government may have put the official death toll at just 102 but many more are feared dead in Uttarakhand where no one wants to hazard a guess on the specific number taking into account the magnitude of the devastation.

Underlining the tragedy as "most distressing", even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who along with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi conducted an aerial survey of the affected areas on Wednesday, said the "loss of lives could eventually be much higher" than what was estimated.

Singh said, "Many persons still remain stranded. The maximum damage has been in Kedarnath and its vicinity."

As rescue work in the hill state continues with government pressing more manpower for relief and rescue operations, more bodies are expected to be found both among pilgrims and local villagers, several of whose houses have been washed away.

"Assessing the magnitude of the losses, both in terms of lives lost and houses destroyed, or the damage to buildings, roads and other infrastructure, is an exercise that will take some more time. The priority for the authorities at the moment is to rescue the stranded and provide urgently needed succor to those most in need of it," the prime minister said while announcing Rs 1,000 crore for Uttarakhand disaster relief.

According to government estimates, over 62,000 people are still feared stranded while only 10,000 have been rescued. However, the real problem is that no one seems to know exactly how many people may be missing or dead. Because of lack of coordination among various rescue agencies and absence of a centrally maintained database on rescue work, no single agency has either a list of the dead, missing or rescued.

Officials engaged in rescue work said several areas have still not been reached and hundreds are still missing. "Rescue work is on but we haven't reached several places because of inaccessibility... Authorities have been able to clear the route between Joshimath and Shrinagar and the route to Rishikesh will also be established by the end of the day," said Ajay Chadha, DG ITBP, which has so far rescued close to 4,000 people.

The situation has caused much distress to family members of those on pilgrimage and even the locals who have no clue of the fate of their loved ones. As communication lines have snapped, there is no way to connect either.

"Any query that comes to us will have to be sent to each unit engaged at different places in rescue work. Similarly, the Army will have to check its own list. And, then there is no list of people missing or even stranded. So we are unable to help worried families," said an ITBP official.

The Army's figures show that more than 2,800 people are still stranded in Harsil-Gangotri area, over 5,500 in Kedarnath Valley, around 2,500 in Hemkund area and approximately 15,000 on the Badrinath route.

Even the figure of those feared stranded is just an estimation -- based on average number of pilgrims' strength at this time and local population -- and could be off the mark, officials said. Uttarakhand chief minister Vijay Bahuguna said, "It is very difficult to ascertain how many may be stranded. It could be in thousands."

Meanwhile, religious organizations have urged people to come forward and help the victims with food, medicines and rescue. Estimating the figures of dead/missing in thousands, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Wednesday urged people "to come ahead to help with food, blankets, water bottles... and medicines". It also urged trekkers from various states to come forward to locate people.

The organization has based its estimate on the basis of missing people who were in different hotels around the four 'dhams'. Besides, it said, around 4,500 mules which carry devotees are also missing - indicating the well-being of 4,500 persons who attend to those mules (one person each mule) uncertain.