Thirty-three people are feared killed and at least 40 feared buried under debris and mud as flash floods and landslips hit villages at Ukhimath and Kapkot in Rudraprayag and Bageshwar districts respectively of Uttarakhand on Friday.
Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna released Rs. 10 crore for Ukhimath and Rs. 1 crore for Bageshwar relief work.
Governor Aziz Quereshi, while expressing anguish, appealed to the rescue teams, Red Cross members and the public to make all efforts to help those in despair.
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Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Ajay Bhatt and other senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders rushed to Ukhimath.
In Ukhimath, 11 of the injured were airlifted to the Srinagar (Garhwal) Base hospital. Officials confirmed recovering 29 bodies and a search was on for the missing with the help of Army and ITBP jawans. Relief and rescue operations were getting hindered due to debris, mud and more rain, the District Magistrate said over phone.
The Divisional Commissioner and DIG Garhwal were reaching the area.
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Incessant rain since Thursday, followed by a cloudburst in the early hours of Friday, left a trail of destruction in Chunni, Mangali, Timada, Sansari and Giriya of Ukhimath tehsil of Rudraprayag district. In Bageshwar district, five persons were killed when they were swept away by flash floods at Kapkot. The Rishikesh-Badrinath and Rishikesh-Gangotri highways have been closed due to landslips.