Update on the Uttarakhand floods: The Maharashtra government pledges Rs 100 crore aid to Uttarakhand.

Flash floods and landslips triggered by the monsoon fury left eight more persons dead, taking the number of people killed in calamity-hit Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh to 138 even as 2700 pilgrims and locals were rescued from Rudraprayag and Chamoli districts.

Disaster Management authorities said in Chamoli that eight bodies were recovered by villagers late last evening from Bansinarayan area of Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary. They seem to have perished on Sunday itself in the downpour that lashed the area while they were in search of Kira Jari, a rare aphrodisiac found in the alpine grassland of the sanctuary.


The weather cleared in most places in the north making it easier for rescue personnel to launch operations for those stranded, especially in Badrinath shrine where 12,000 pilgrims are still stuck.

Chamoli Additional District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar said 1500 pilgrims and locals have been evacuated so far from Ghanghariya, Duendhar and Pulna from near Hemkund Sahib in the district to Joshimath relief camps.

With the improvement in weather many more stranded pilgrims are likely to be evacuated to safety by the evening, he said adding evacuation of pilgrims from Badrinath is next on their agenda where 12000 persons are still stranded. 1200 persons have also been evacuated from Kedarnath, an official in Rudraprayag said.