Flash floods bury Uttarakhand's Dharali under debris tall enough to swallow a 3-storey building

In the wake devastating flash floods near Gangotri, rescuers in Uttarkashi are confronting scenes of devastation on a scale rarely seen in the region.

Dharali village now lies beneath a blanket of sludge and boulders stretching half a kilometre wide, with debris piled so high — up to 50 feet — that it could engulf a three-storey building, ToI reported.

By Thursday morning, two bodies had been recovered, while 16 others — nine Army personnel and seven civilians — remained unaccounted for. Officials on the ground warn the real toll could be higher. Around 400 personnel from the Army, ITBP, NDRF and SDRF are engaged in the rescue effort.

“This is no ordinary operation. We're talking about debris as high as the rooftops,” said Arun Mohan Joshi, IG (SDRF), describing the damage as “unprecedented in scale.”

Massive debris hampers search operations

NDRF commandant Sudesh Kumar Drall said the sheer weight and spread of the rubble had slowed progress.

“We've deployed sniffer dogs to locate those possibly trapped beneath the rubble. Local residents are helping us identify spots where people were likely present during the flash flood, so we can focus our search efforts more effectively,” he told ToI.

Experts believe clearing Dharali could take “several months.” Access remains limited as villages such as Jhala, Mukhba and Harsil are partially cut off, with the highway blocked at six points. A bridge near Gangnani — swept away in the torrent — has yet to be replaced.

Helicopters, road teams join mission

Six helicopters from the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority flew 85 sorties on Thursday between Harsil and Matli, evacuating stranded residents. The Indian Air Force’s Mi-17 helicopter carried out one sortie, a Chinook flew two, while the Cheetah and ALH helicopters completed four and one sorties respectively.

In Delhi, the National Disaster Management Authority reviewed the situation in a meeting chaired by member Rajendra Singh, with the Army, Air Force, BRO, IMD, ITBP and NDRF in attendance.

Singh instructed state officials to closely monitor a newly formed lake in upper Harsil and have a joint Army-state team assess the risk and ensure controlled discharge of water.

The Border Roads Organisation has also moved to restore connectivity. “Our teams are in mission mode to launch a Bailey bridge at Limchigadh, where a 30m-long bridge was washed away, cutting off access to Dharali, Mukhba and nearby villages,” said BRO DG Lt Gen Raghu Srinivasan, who inspected the site on Thursday.