19 more skeletons recovered in Kedar

DEHRADUN: In a fresh search operation launched by a joint team of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and Rudraprayag police, skeletal remains of 19 victims believed to have perished during the June 2013 flash floods in Kedarnath have been found on various routes leading to the Kedarnath shrine. Photographs and DNA samples of the remains have been taken so they can be cremated.
Talking to TOI, IG (Garhwal) Sanjay Gunjyal said, “The remains were found on the routes of Garudchatti-Devvishnu-Gamukhada-Gaurigaon and Vasukitaal-Palwalganj.”
On October 21, seven teams of SDRF and district police had started the combing operations on various routes leading to Kedarnath.“We have made all arrangements for their cremation at Sonprayag. The last rites will be performed by a priest according to Hindu rituals on Tuesday morning,” said Gunjyal.
In the first and second week of October, a number of skeletal remains were spotted on the 27-km long Triyuginarayan-Kedarnath route by trekkers, who were part of the recently concluded Hito Kedar project which took over 200 trekkers to Kedarnath shrine through eight different routes.
Earlier this month, a joint search team of Uttarakhand police and SDRF personnel recovered the skeletal remains of 31 victims of the mid-June 2013 tragedy from the 27-km long Triyuginarayan-Kedarnath track.
A separate unit was then moved to Rudraprayag to start fresh search operations on the route and adjoining areas.