DEHRADUN, July 17, 2013: The Uttarakhand government plans to develop an alternative route to Kedarnath which remains virtually inaccessible after last month's flash floods and landslides while chief minister Vijay Bahuguna on Tuesday said work continued on war-footing to resume yatra to Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri by September-end or first week of October.

The 'Chardham Yatra' normally continues till the second week of November. "As our government wants to restart the yatra to these shrines as early as possible, we are taking all efforts to ensure that these routes are reconstructed within a stipulated time," Bahuguna told TOI.

The chief minister said a team of senior army officers, with the help of experts and mountaineers from Nehru Mountaineering Institute (NMI) at Uttarkashi, had begun to chalk out modalities to rebuild the traditional 27-km route to Kedarnath as an alternative. He said it could take months to restore the 14-km trek route to Kedarnath from Gaurikund, which had been completely swept away by massive landslides, triggered by unprecedented heavy rains.

NMI director Col Ajay Kothiyal said experts from the Institute had suggested the army to develop the old traditional pedestrian track. Col. Kothiyal, who had accompanied a 12-member army team to trek through the difficult track after halting for two nights on the way, said this pedestrian route from Guptkashi will pass though Kalimath and Chaumashi. "The army has nearly finalised this route and work to rebuild the track will begin soon," he said.

Bahuguna said he had asked the Border Roads Organisation to dispatch a team of experts in a day or two to Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri besides the extensively damaged tracks at several places. "As these routes are integral part of this land known as 'Dev Bhumi', we want to restore access to the shrines as early as possible," he said.

The CM said a 64-member NDRF team had been sent to Kedarnath and its nearby places like Sonprayag to take out bodies stuck in damaged buildings and conduct mass cremation before launching a clean-up operation at the site of the temple and its vicinity. "After the operations are over, a four-member team of Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee will fly to Kedarnath to explore the possibility of resuming Puja," he said.

Experts from ASI, Geological Survey of India (GSI) will also be sent to Kedarnath to assess the measures needed to restore the famed shrine, dedicated to Lord Shiva.

The chief minister said the DMs in flood-affected districts like Rudraprya, Chamoli, Uttarkashi and Pithoragarh would begin the process of disbursing relief amount of Rs 5 lakh each to the next of kin of the victims from Wednesday. "They will have to sign a bond that the amount would be returned if their missing kin come back," he said.

The official figure of those missing after the tragedy has been put at over 5700.

Online photos help identify 63 bodies

With bodies of most of the Uttarakhand victims decomposed beyond recognition as they remained buried under debris for days, identification has been a daunting task. Four days after the state police put up on its website pictures of 120 bodies with detailed descriptions like ornaments and clothes, only 63 of the 193 victims cremated so far have been identified.

"The identification process of the bodies was completed after the relatives of victims called up and their DNA was matched," IG (Law and Order) R S Meena said. The DNA samples were taken before cremation of the bodies. Meena said police started getting calls from family members of the victims within hours of posting the pictures on their website.

"We are taking DNA samples of all those claiming to be family members and close relatives to match it with that of the victims apart from confirming the physical features," said a senior IPS officer.

Meena, who led a 200-member team comprising personnel from police, PWD, revenue and health department to conduct mass cremation in flood-ravaged areas, said of those identified, 29 belonged to Chamoli district, nine to Almora, six each to Uttarkashi and Nainital and four to Haridwar besides Udham Singh Nagar (6) and Dehradun (3). He said most of the victims were locals.

"The way people began to respond to pictures of the victims with the help of the identifying signs like earrings, clothes and IDs put out on our website was beyond our expectations," said Meena adding that the process to identify more bodies is still on.

Source: The Times of India, DT. July 17, 2013.