4 declared dead in Uttarakhand flash flood found alive

Four labourers who were declared dead in the recent flash floods in Uttarakashi district have been reported alive, a top official said on Monday.

"We had declared four labourers of Assi Ganga Hydel project along with 19 workers as dead after the calamity. And now, four persons have been reported alive," said R Rajesh Kumar, district magistrate of Uttarkashi.

Kumar said all the four had been washed away by the Assi Ganga river, a tributary of the Bhagirathi. The four were later found alive on the banks of Bhagirathi river by locals near Uttarkashi town, he said.

Kumar clarified that 19 other workers who were reported dead would remain in the list of dead persons.

However, one more death has been reported due to rains in the district and with this the death toll in the Uttarkashi cloudburst stands at 28, Kumar said, adding that six people are still missing.

Meanwhile, ITBP along with police personnel on Monday continued to search for the missing persons after incessant rains left 31 dead and scores of others homeless in Uttarakhand.

The government has launched relief and rescue operations and has sent food packets to the affected people. Nearly 250 families have already been taken to safer areas in the different areas of Uttarkashi and Chamoli districts.

Efforts are on to reopen blocked highways leading to Chardham yatra as scores of pilgrims are still stranded at various places in Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag and Chamoli districts.

Last year, the government had suspended the Chardham Yatra to all the four shrines -- Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri -- following heavy landslides and torrential rains for nearly a week.