Over 22,000 rescued in flood-hit north India

More than 62,000 people still remain stranded in the mountainous northern state of Uttrakhand where a "Himalayan Tsunami" a few days ago killed over 150 people with the authorities fearing a surge in the death toll. "About 62,122 pilgrims are stranded at various places. The government with the help of the army has rescued more than 22,392 people from various areas," a Home Ministry statement said Thursday here. Torrential monsoon rains had lashed Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh states on June 17, swallowing villages, triggering landslides and sweeping almost 21 bridges in Uttrakhand only that has seen Indian army implementing which it says is its largest rescue and relief operations ever. Home Minister, Sushilkumar Shinde Thursday said so far 22 helicopters are being used to evacuate stranded people to safer locations and through hundreds of sorties they rescued over 22,000 people. The fury has seen Indian Metrological Department (IMD) releasing the data on cumulative rainfall of Uttarakhand, which it said is, reported to be 385.1 mm actual against normal rainfall of 71.3 mm, which is 440% excess during the south-west monsoon period of June 1, 2013 to June 2013. Meanwhile, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) chief Ajay Chadha in a press briefing today said that everyone from Kedarnath town - the epicenter of the devastation - has been rescued. He, however, said, "Some 17 bodies were recovered from Kedarnath today. The holy town cannot be accessed by roads, and all evacuations will have to be carried by air. Bad weather is making it tough for helicopters to land there and evacuate pilgrims."