Flood toll will cross 10,000, says Uttarakhand speaker

Two weeks after the devastating floods and consequent landslides in Uttarakhand, the speaker of the state assembly today virtually confirmed widespread fears that the death toll could number in the tens of thousands – many multiples of the official toll of 1,000 or so.

"When I returned from an earlier tour of Garhwal region I believed the casualty figure could be 4,000 to 5,000. But now as per my information and bodies being seen by the people, I can say the figure can cross the 10,000 mark," Govind Singh Kunjwal, the Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker, Kunjwal told reporters in Dehradun.

Vijay Bahuguna, the chief minister of the mountainous state, meanwhile continued to maintain the figure of 1,000 killed, reiterating his earlier statements that the exact number of the dead would be known only after the removal of piled-up debris.

At least 3,000 people are still reported missing after pounding rain triggered massive floods and landslides around 15 June, the peak tourist and pilgrim season in the part of the mountain chain which is the source of Hinduism's most sacred rivers.

Oddly enough, the Himalayan disaster has attracted little attention from the international press or aid agencies despite its unprecedented proportions, even as tragic stories continue to pour in.

A recent one is about a woman in Andhra Pradesh who hanged herself on Friday as she was unable to trace several members of her family who had gone on pilgrimage to Kedarnath.

Observers living in the region put down the lack of international interest mainly to the insular attitude of the Indian government, which not only refuses to fully acknowledge the full extent of the tragedy but also discourages 'foreign interference', particularly in the Himalayan regions.