Shinde admits lack of coordination hampered rescue works

Dehradun: Admitting that there has been a lack of coordination between government agencies engaged in rescue work in Uttarakhand, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Saturday said operations are underway on a war footing to evacuate about 40,000 pilgrims still stranded.

Admitting there has been a “lack of coordination between government agencies engaged in rescue operations,” the Home Minister said Disaster management expert V K Duggal will be stationed here to oversee and coordinate rescue efforts. He said the Centre is keeping an eye on rescue efforts but made it clear that it is a natural calamity and not a man-made disaster.
Shinde said some of the bodies recovered from different places are badly mutilated making it difficult to identify them and added that the DNA of the victims will be preserved.
Chopper operations were hampered here early this morning with overcast conditions delaying the programme of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who was to undertake an aerial survey of the affected areas in Rudraprayag, Chamoli and Uttarkashi districts.
About 1000 more pilgrims stranded in Rambara and Junglechatti areas en route to Kedarnath shrine in Rudraprayag district were sighted by security forces