Uttarkashi flash floods: Clearing Dharali may take months as debris piles as high as 3-storey buildings

Uttarkashi cloudburst

Three days after a massive flash flood tore through Uttarkashi’s Dharali village near Gangotri, the full extent of the devastation is becoming clear now as the peaceful Himalayan settlement is buried under a 500-metre-wide stretch of debris and thick sludge. In some places, the mounds of rubble reach up to 50 feet high, tall enough to completely bury a three-storey building, The Times of India reported.

The death toll has risen to six with the recovery of one more body on Thursday, according to a report by Deccan Herald. As of Thursday morning, two bodies had been recovered. Sixteen people, including nine Army personnel and seven civilians, are still officially missing. However, officials fear that the actual number could be higher. As many as 274 people, including tourists, were rescued by Thursday morning, the report said.

Arun Mohan Joshi, Inspector General of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and one of the senior-most officials at the site, described the destruction as “unprecedented in scale.” “This is no ordinary operation. We’re talking about debris as high as rooftops,” he was quoted by TOI as saying.

Nearly 400 personnel from different agencies, the Army, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), and SDRF, are working around the clock in search and rescue efforts. A drone team has been sent upstream along the Kheer Gad stream to check if a lake or pond has formed after the deluge, which could pose further risk.

NDRF Commandant Sudesh Kumar Drall said the sheer volume of debris is making the mission extremely challenging. “We’ve deployed sniffer dogs to locate those possibly trapped under the rubble. Local residents are helping us mark areas where people were last seen during the flood so we can focus our search,” he said. Experts warn that it may take several months to clear the disaster-hit village entirely.

Rescue operations are also being slowed by damaged roads, broken bridges, and the rugged terrain. Villages such as Jhala, Mukhba, and Harsil remain partly cut off, with the main highway blocked in at least six locations. A vital bridge near Gangnani, swept away on Monday night, has yet to be rebuilt.

To evacuate stranded residents, six helicopters from the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority carried out 85 sorties on Thursday between Harsil and Matli. Additionally, the Indian Air Force's Mi-17 helicopter carried out one sortie, Chinook completed two, while the Cheetah and ALH helicopters flew four and one sorties, respectively.

Meanwhile, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) held a high-level review meeting in Delhi, chaired by member Rajendra Singh. Representatives from the Army, Air Force, Border Roads Organisation (BRO), India Meteorological Department, ITBP, and NDRF attended. A central team is expected to visit Uttarkashi’s affected areas next week. Singh also ordered state authorities to monitor a newly formed lake in the upper Harsil region and asked for a joint Army-state assessment to manage water discharge safely.

The BRO has already moved into “mission mode” to restore road connectivity. Lt Gen Raghu Srinivasan, BRO Director General, visited Harsil on Thursday and announced plans to launch a Bailey bridge at Limchigadh, where a 30-metre bridge was washed away, cutting off access to Dharali, Mukhba, and nearby villages. He said four badly damaged sections near Bhatwari will also be repaired to reconnect Gangotri with Dharali. Heavy machinery for the bridge will be sent once debris is cleared at Papadgadh.

In an effort to restore electricity, the Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited airlifted a 125 KV generator to Harsil using an Air Force Chinook. UPCL Managing Director Anil Kumar said, “Three more generators are ready at Jolly Grant Airport. Two will be flown to Harsil on Friday. Our teams are working round-the-clock to bring back power to the affected areas.”