Army builds bridge over river to speed up evacuation, 650 rescued

Sniffer dogs picked through towering piles of rubble, drones scanned the area from above, and rescue teams waded through thick sludge in Dharali on Friday, four days after flash floods engulfed half the village and left many missing.

- MPOST BUREAU

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami confirmed that 650 people have been evacuated since Tuesday — 400 on Thursday and 250 on Friday. "The remaining people will also be taken to safety soon," Dhami said, noting that operations are being conducted in challenging conditions.

Communication lines in the disaster-hit areas of Uttarkashi were restored on Friday after a three-day outage. "Internet connectivity has been restored.

Airtel services are now functioning in the affected area. This will speed up rescue operations," Dhami told reporters after visiting Dharali.

While connectivity has returned, road access between Dharali, Harsil and Uttarkashi remains severely damaged, and electricity supply is disrupted. A generator has been transported to Uttarkashi to be airlifted to affected zones. "The situation is difficult, but we are trying to bring things back on track as quickly as possible," Dhami said.

Work is underway to construct a bailey bridge over Lincha Gad near Gangnani to replace a collapsed structure.

Garhwal Commissioner Vinay Shankar Pandey said the bridge should be operational within two days.

Authorities have confirmed four deaths, with two bodies recovered on Wednesday.