By Shishir Prashant PrashantNews
In the first official confirmation, a top government official on Monday said 42 people are missing in the Aug 5 Dharali disaster in Uttarakhand which was triggered by the flash floods in Khirgad stream even as missing reports of 24 Nepali labourers is not yet confirmed.
Only one body has been recovered so far, the Garhwal Commissioner Vinay Shankar Pandey said. A total of 43 people went missing in the flash floods that created nearly 30-50 feet high debris, he said.
In a statement, Pandey said nearly 1278 people have been evacuated so far from different parts of the disaster-hit Uttarkashi district so far.
Under the directive of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, the government has started the processes of disbursing the compensation to the affected people. A compensation amount of Rs 5 lakh is being given to the people whose houses have been damaged completely in the disaster. In addition to this, a compensation of Rs 5 lakh is being given to the next of kin of the victims killed in the Dharali disaster.
Out of the 42 missing persons, nine are from the Indian Army. Besides, 13 people are from Bihar, 6 from Uttar Pradesh, eight from Dharali, five from nearby areas of Dharali and one from Tehri district.
Pandey said there were also reports that 29 labourers from Nepal who went missing in the floods. However, five labourers have reached their homes safely. Now, only 24 labourers are reportedly missing for which the government is trying to find out more details from their contractors, Pandey said.