Uttarakhand dams flowing 450% above normal

Uttarakhand could be facing another danger - its overflowing dams. The Central Water Commission's latest report says water levels of Tehri and Ramganga dams are 449% above normal.

With more rain, the gates will have to be opened to discharge excess water and this could flood downstream areas.

The rain-marred rescue efforts saw around 1,000 people being evacuated from different areas including the Himalayan shrine in Chamoli district and the Gangotri valley, chief secretary Subhash Kumar said on Monday.

Rain washed away two critical roads in Rudraprayag, hitting traffic movement towards Tehri.

Meanwhile, the defence and paramilitary personnel have wound up the search and rescue operations at Kedarnath.

Sonprayag is a landscape of rock and boulders now, with only a strip of water flowing through. The entire river bed at the confluence of the Son and Mandakini, where once houses, hotels and shops stood, is now a rocky expanse.

Some National Disaster Relief Force personnel had their faces covered with masks; every fresh breeze carried the smell of decomposing corpses.

Meanwhile, local victims are complaining that the relief efforts are focussed almost entirely on pilgrims and tourists; and local residents are neglected.