10 survive Malpa calamity; 25 killed in Rudraprayag landslide
Sharat Pradhan in Lucknow
With 200 more Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel trekking to Malpa, the landslide-affected village of Uttar Pradesh's Pithoragarh district, authorities hope that a breakthrough will be made in rescue operations on Thursday.
Reports from Rudraprayag say a second landslide has claimed at least 25 lives at a village there. On August 14, a landslide had killed 69.
In two other incidents in Dehra Dun and Pauri, four and seven people were killed respectively.
State officials believe it is unlikely that there are any survivors among the 202 reported missing in Malpa -- the inhospitable climatic conditions of the Himalayas make life without heat and food next to impossible.
"It is unlikely that many people could have survived as 15 metres of debris is reported to have settled down over the camp," UP Principal Home Secretary Naresh Dayal told Rediff On The NeT.
The first rescue team, comprising of 50 ITBP personnel and 15 army soldiers, that arrived in Malpa at 2100 hours on Tuesday, met a stonewall of resistance in the shape of incessant rains, tons of debris and zero visibility.
Thirteen Indian Air Force helicopters, pressed into service from Bareilly, made futile attempts to land at the site, but had to turn due to heavy fog and mist.
Despite this, the team has managed to pull out 10 survivors, including six General Reserve Engineering Force personnel and three porters. Three bodies have been recovered on Wednesday.
"A few of the survivors have severe head injuries," ITBT sources said.
Some of the injured are being treated at a medical camp in Malpa while the rest has been shifted to Pithoragarh.
Among the 202 feared killed are 60 pilgrims to Kailash-Mansarovar, 19 Border Roads Organisation and eight ITBP personnel, three policemen, four public works department workers and 45 porters. Of the 60 pilgrims, 48 are men. Fortyfive mules also perished in the calamity.
The authorities have suspended the Kailash-Mansarovar yatra. Besides the landslide-hit 12th batch, four more batches were to undertake the pilgrimage.
Three earlier batches -- the 9th, 10th and 11th -- are on their way back. While the 9th batch, which has already crossed over to the Indian side, is being flown back to Delhi, the other two are still in China.
The 10th and 11th batches would arrive in Delhi on August 21 and 27 respectively.
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh has announced an ex gratia relief ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 125,000 to the family of each of the deceased.
Special control rooms have been set up in Lucknow, Bareilly and Dharchala, the last point that can be reached by road on the yatra, about 60 kilometres from the site.
Earlier, officials described the incident as the worst tragedy ever witnessed on the Mansarovar yatra.
"The yatra is an annual ritual thrown open to the public only between June and October, as the entire region remains out of bounds due to heavy snow during the rest of the year," they said, "The pilgrims, who have to go through rigorous preliminaries before being cleared to undertake the yatra, are sent under strict government regulations in batches of 68, with the ministry of external affairs being the nodal agency. On the China side, their
officials take over the arrangement for the remaining part of
the yatra which, in all takes 27 days."
Kalyan Singh and a team of officials attempted to land at Malpa during the day, but had to turn back due to adverse weather.
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