Harish Rawat asks for combing operations along trek routes to Kedarnath

DEHRADUN: Chief minister Harish Rawat on Thursday directed the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) to launch an intense combing operation along seven trek routes leading to the Kedarnath shrine and search for human remains as skeletons are still being found in forest areas of Kedar valley even after three years of the deadly deluge which claimed thousands of lives.
The CM issued this order in a review meeting held on Thursday to discuss the status of 10-day long combing operation which began on October 15 by a joint team of officials from the Uttarakhand police and SDRF to recover skeletal remains from the 27-km long Triyuginarayan-Kedarnath track.
“If we conduct intensive combing operations on these traditional routes leading to Kedarnath shrine, possibility of finding more skeletal remains cannot be ruled out,” said Rawat. He also issued instructions to SDRF and other senior officials in the state home department to prepare a blue print focusing other less highlighted routes under the combing operation ambit.
Asking the SDRF to carry out the operation in a phased manner, Rawat said the first round will continue till October 25 with focus on seven trek routes to Kedarnath which bore the brunt of the June, 2013 calamity.
The trek routes to be covered in the first phase are the 40-km-long Garurcvhatti-Dev Vishnu-Gomkara-Gaurigaon, the 35-km-long Chaumasi-Kham-Rambara-Kedarnath, 4-km-long Kedarnath-Chaurabari Glacier, 20-km-long Kalishila-Chaumasi- Linchauli, 18-km-long Kedarnath-Vasukital-Khatling, 35-km-long Kedarnath-Mansi-Rasi and 30-km-long Tosi-Pava-Vasukital- Trijuginarayan routes.
The operation will be carried out under the supervision of SDRF deputy commandant Prakash Chandra Arya, an official statement here said.
He has also instructed the officials to ensure that samples of skeletal remains are preserved properly for DNA examination before their cremation. “Those entrusted with the job of cremation of skeletal remains and other related responsibilities, must ensure that all necessary formalities are completed before the cremation rituals are carried out,” added CM.
Officials who attended the meeting said that Rawat has asked them to involve local residents in the search operation. “As local residents are familiar with the topography of the region they can be asked to join the combing operation on trek routes around Mata on October 26 to October 28,” said Arya. SDRF’s rafting teams will be scour the banks of rivers in the affected areas to trace skeletal remains. The combing operations will be resumed again after Diwali, the CM said.
Earlier this week a joint search team of Uttarakhand police and SDRF personnel during the course of two-day operations recovered the skeletal remains of 31 victims of the mid-June 2013 tragedy from the 27-km long Triyuginarayan-Kedarnath track. The team also completed the cremation of all the remains after taking their DNA samples.