Death toll in India flood disaster could reach 10,000, say officials

More than 3,000 people are still missing a fortnight after floods and landslides ravaged the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand. Officials fear the death toll could reach 10,000.

Some 1,000 people, many of them pilgrims and tourists have already been confirmed dead as a result of the torrential rains that inundated the Himalayan region on June 15th.

State assembly speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal said at the weekend that the casualty figure in the catastrophe-ridden region could pass 10,000 as many people had been washed away by swollen rivers and others lay buried deep under rubble and mud.

However, this figure was rejected as "guess-work" by state chief minister Vijay Bahuguna. "We will never know the exact number of the dead and the number of people buried or washed away," Mr Bahuguna said.

In the past week rescue workers have recovered hundreds of bodies in rivers downstream from the flood zone, underlining the near impossibility of determining the death toll.

The extent of the tragedy is poignantly brought home by distraught relatives, clutching photographs of missing family members, waiting in the state capital Dehradun for news of their loved ones.

More than 100,000 people have been rescued by paramilitary and military personnel high in the mountains.

Medical teams have been deployed widely across the state to assess the risk of an outbreak of disease due to contamination from the hundreds of bodies found in rivers.

Mass cremations are being carried out to prevent such an outbreak. Tonnes of firewood have been airlifted across the state for use in funeral pyres while forensic teams work feverishly to collect DNA samples of the dead to help identify them later.

State health authorities are also scattering tonnes of bleaching powder to disinfect large areas.

Raging rivers swept away houses, buildings and even entire townships and villages, and severed communication links across large areas of Uttarakhand.

Pilgrims to Uttarakhand’s four holy temples were the worst hit as unseasonal rain – 400 per cent more than normal – triggered landslides and floods in the river Ganges and its many tributaries.

Environmentalists and aid agencies claim that unregulated development and deforestation were largely to blame for the devastation that followed the heavy rain.