Dehradun: As the rotten smell of decomposed bodies, animal carcasses and floating wood makes it difficult for rescuers to remove the dead buried under mounds of rubble in Kedarnath Valley, the Uttarakhand government is planning to fumigate the area with herbal spray.
That should make it easier for airdropped men to dig out the bodies and cremate them, the state’s health minister said.
According to Uttarakhand Health Minister Surinder Singh Negi, the main problem the rescue teams are facing at the moment is to enter the Kedarnath Valley, the worst affected in the June 14-17 incessant rains that triggered landslides. Hundreds have died and an equal number of people are missing in the state.
“At the moment, our prime focus is on the Kedarnath Valley. Our prime need is to take out the bodies buried under at least 10-20 feet of rubble,” Negi said. “The main question we faced was how to enable rescue teams to enter the area, where it is said many bodies are buried. The teams found it extremely difficult to airdrop in these areas because of the rising stench, which is increasing every day due to the incessant rains,” Negi added.
“We are now planning to use herbal sprays which will make the air around that area a little breathable. This will then enable the teams to get down, use the earth moving machines and dig out the dead. The dead can then be given a decent funeral,” Negi added.
The minister also said they will use the spray in the entire 14km stretch that leads to the Kedarnath shrine. While over 100,000 people have been evacuated from the Uttarakhand region, many hundreds are still missing.
According to officials and eyewitnesses, many hundreds have been buried under debris in the Kedarnath Valley. Negi said they have already sprayed bleaching powder over the Kedarnath Valley to prevent the bodies from decaying.
“There are human bodies as well as animal carcasses in the Kedarnath Valley area. The rising stench has made rescue work difficult,” Negi said. He also said there was a fear that the floating bodies in the river and streams could cause an epidemic.
“So far, there is no reason for an outbreak. We are monitoring the situation. We are getting the help of central health teams, who are stationed here,” Negi said.
Meanwhile, Minister for Culture Chandresh Kumari Katoch said “outside help” was not required to restore Uttarakhand’s 11th century Kedarnath temple.
“We want to restore the temple to its original glory and we have the best experts. It should be left to the department (Archaeological Survey of India),” Katoch said. “Others should not interfere,” she added.
The minster was replying to a question whether the central government would accept Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s offer to help rebuild the temple.
Katoch said the ministry had sent a team of experts to assess the damage to the temple. However, they could not reach Kedarnath due to inclement weather. On the funding required to rebuild the temple, she said ASI will seek funds from the centre, the National Culture Fund and also raise money through public participation. “The state government can also contribute,” she said.
ASI director general Pravin Srivastava said the Kedarnath temple was estimated to have been built in the 11th century and its front wall had been rebuilt or restored in the 18th century.
The Kedarnath temple is at an altitude of 3,969 metres above sea level. It is built in the Rekha-Sikhara style with three different horizontal divisions. Ishan Temple on the left corner of the Kedarnath temple was washed away in the flash floods. IANS
