DEHRADUN: As flood waters ebbed and rain's fury eased on Wednesday, snatches of Uttarakhand's worst natural disaster were emerging. The death toll, officially placed at 150 on the basis of body count, could be frighteningly higher. Estimates were running in thousands. Even Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, who described the calamity as a "Himalayan tsunami" said, "Very heavy casualties are feared."

State home secretary Om Prakash said, "The toll could go much higher as the process of recovery of bodies has not yet started in many places that are marooned." What's raising the fears is the fact that over 70,000 are still missing, and given that rescuers haven't yet been able to reach many ravaged towns. What they will discover there is anyone's guess.

Many of those marooned are pilgrims to the Char Dhams - Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri. According to Char Dham Yatri Sangathan convenor Varinder Arora, around 25,000 pilgrims are trapped in Damta alone since Sunday, which is 70 km from Yamunotri. He said there are pilgrims from Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi flew over the water-ravaged towns and mud-caked villages. The PM has announced a relief package of Rs 1,000 crore. He said what they had seen was horrifying.

The epicentre of the disaster appeared to be Kedarnath, where the 8th century temple to Lord Shiva was covered under 6 feet of sludge, its surroundings and the 18-km trek to the 3,581 meter sacred spot savaged by landslides and gushing waters. More than 60 villages had been flattened in the vicinity and 90 dharamshalas that shelter pilgrims during the May-June peak season completely destroyed.

There were no reliable estimates on the number of pilgrims, but some accounts said bodies were strewn in and around the temple complex and 15,000 people were still waiting to be rescued, of them 12,000 in the temple. The heavy downpours pushed the Mandakini River beyond its banks, flooding more than 200 villages along the 18-km trek from the roadhead to the shrine.