Joshimath, June 29
The armed forces made their final push in flood-hit Uttarakhand today and evacuated over 1,500 stranded people from Badrinath.

While IAF helicopters airlifted 842 people, the Army escorted 713 pilgrims through a 13-km trek on the Badrinath-Gobind Ghat route. The operations at Badrinath are likely to conclude tomorrow as around 500 people remain stranded there.

The bodies of two ITBP men killed in the Mi-17 V5 helicopter crash on June 25 are yet to be recovered. The ITBP will now send a team of mountaineers to locate the bodies. Army paratroopers accompanied by a unit of the IAF’s “Garuds” are already carrying out the search.

The ITBP said it had taken DNA samples from the family members of four victims who were yet to be identified. The samples had been sent to the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, Hyderabad. A similar DNA profiling is being done for the unidentified victims of the NDRF.

Incessant rains in the upper reaches pushed up the water levels of rivers already in spate since the June-16 floods. Though the rising water levels in the Alaknanda and the Bhagirathi do not pose a threat, residents are cautious. Vehicular traffic has been reduced to a trickle with the state government enforcing a ban on plying of taxis, cars and buses after 9 pm.

Relief material reached Gobind Ghat by road today after the Border Roads Organisation opened a damaged stretch towards Joshimath.

A senior IAF functionary said they had started de-inducting helicopters and only 10 would remain operational after July 2 to help the civil authorities. The IAF currently has 26 helicopters in the state, down from the 45 it had during the peak of the operation. The IAF plans sorties over the next two days to airlift the remaining people and drop relief supplies.