Uttarkashi flood: 190 rescued, two bodies recovered, dozens remain missing from the site

Around 190 people were rescued from Dharali town in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district on Wednesday (August 6, 2025), a day after a devastating flash flood left scores missing, and the town covered in mud and slush.

Rescue teams also recovered two bodies from the site.

Bad weather continued to hamper rescue efforts, with roads to the area blocked by mud and boulders following landslides triggered by heavy rainfall. Rivers across the State remained above danger levels after continuous downpour over the past 50 hours.

Uttarakhand’s Disaster Management and Rehabilitation Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman said “prima facie, around 15 people were missing from the disaster spot”. Efforts were under way to ensure that the rescue teams were able to work continuously, he added.

Mr. Suman said, “As many as 150 Army personnel from Rajputana Rifles and 12 jawans from Ghatak battalion are working tirelessly in the rescue operations in Dharali while 100 personnel of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police [ITBP] are also assisting the State government in saving lives… Six jawans from the State Disaster Response Force [SDRF] also managed to reach Dharali on Tuesday evening. Around 40 Army personnel are walking to the disaster site from Nelong valley while a 50-member team of the Army’s medical wing has reached till Tekla.”

Additionally, 130 personnel from the ITBP might reach the site on Thursday. Around 80 jawans of the SDRF were stuck in Papadgadh due to landslips, he added.

According to reports, a group of 28 tourists from Kerala is still missing. Their relatives flooded the helpline numbers with frantic calls. The group had planned to leave Dharali for Gangotri before the flash flood hit the town. However, senior police officials said over 300 people from Dharali, Gangotri and other parts of the Uttarkashi district were staying at various places and their phones were not working due to lack of electricity in the area. “There is a possibility that this group is among them. We are trying to get information,” he added.

Two men, a Lieutenant Colonel and Rifleman of the Army, were airlifted to the Dehradun Military Hospital while 11 personnel were admitted in Uttarkashi for treatment. “Medical teams and Chinook helicopters were kept ready at Sahastradhara helipad. They will fly when the weather clears,” said the officials.

As the rescue teams teams shared pictures of the disaster site, Dharali, the picturesque town situated on the banks of the Kheer Ganga river, resembled a bed of sludge with no signs of human habitation. The flash flood had upended life at the village, which is also a key route to the Gangotri temple, which is part of the Char Dham yatra. The town, where around 100 hotels, guest houses and homestays had offered inspiring river views to the tourists, now only bore signs of death and devastation. The ancient Kalp Kedar temple in the town was buried in the debris.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami also reached Uttarkashi on Wednesday and held an ariel survey of the site. He may be camping at the district headquarters while the rescue operations are under way.

“All of us from Uttarakhand are standing with the affected people. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also spoke to me and took the stock of the relief and rescue work. He also assured full help from the Centre,” Mr. Dhami said.

Mr. Modi also met MPs from Uttarakhand — Anil Baluni, Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah, Trivendra Singh Rawat and Ajay Bhatt — at the Parliament House and was briefed on the current situation and the ongoing rescue operations.

Mr. Dhami did an aerial survey of the affected areas and met the kin of the missing people in Dharali assuring them of all support.

“190 people have been rescued. All of them are safe and are at secure places,” he told Videos, adding, “The injured have been admitted to hospitals while some have been sent to the military camps and higher centres.” Dharali is about 140 km from Dehradun and usually a five-hour drive.

“Today I will be staying in Uttarkashi to closely monitor the relief and rescue operations in Dharali. I am also continuously reviewing the rescue operation by holding meetings with the officials,” Mr. Dhami also said in a Facebook post.

“Rescue operations are being carried out with full readiness by SDRF, NDRF, Army, ITBP and the local administration,” he said.

The Gangotri national highway is blocked at various points with a joint team of more than 200 rescue personnel waiting in Bhatwari for the route to open, added an official at the district emergency operation centre in Uttarkashi.

A bridge built over the Limaccha river at Gangnani on the Gangotri National Highway was swept away by the flash flood, leaving a team of rescue personnel stranded on the way to Dharali.

The Indian Army has kept its MI-17 and Chinook helicopters on standby to look for the stranded. They will take off only after the weather clears.

At least 60 people are said to have gone missing, but the number is likely higher, as many had gathered for the Har Dudh fair in Dharali village when the tragedy struck, locals said.

Meanwhile, experts said that Uttarkashi received only 27 mm of rain on Tuesday (August 5, 2025) and this is “too little for a cloudburst or flash flood of such devastating intensity”.

Data available with the meteorological department confirms there was no cloudburst, one of them said.

Col. Harshvardhan, commanding officer of 14 Raj Rif, is leading the relief and rescue operations with a 150-soldier team.

Despite its soldiers going missing and its base being hit, the team is working with full courage and determination, Defence Spokesperson Lt. Col. Manish Shrivastava said.

It is raining heavily in various parts of Uttarakhand, with major rivers like the Mandakini in Rudraprayag, the Banganga in Haridwar, the Ganga in Rishikesh and the Bhagirathi in Devprayag are flowing above the danger mark, the Central Water Commission said in a bulletin.

A landslip occurred late on Tuesday (August 5, 2025) evening along the railway tracks passing through the Motichur range of the Rajaji Tiger Reserve, bringing the movement of trains from Haridwar towards Rishikesh and Dehradun to a halt.