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Quake had hit Tehri too; toll touches 100

Sharat Pradhan in Lucknow

The death toll in the Chamoli earthquake has touched 100, Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary Yogendra Narain has told Rediff On The Net.

The number of injured has gone up to 350, an official spokesman said.

"Sixty-one dead bodies have been recovered from Chamoli district, 34 from Rudraprayag and five from Tehri until 0900 hours today," Narain said.

The inclusion of Tehri district in the earthquake-hit areas has come as a surprise as officials maintained yesterday that only Chamoli and Rudraprayag districts had been affected. Yet another report reaching the state home department today said that the tremors in the hilly Garhwal region had caused extensive damage in the neighbouring Pauri district too.

However, on being contacted over telephone, Pauri district magistrate P K Sarangi said, "No casualty has been reported from the affected area in Khirsu block which is on the border of the worst-affected Chamoli district."

"About 1159 houses have collapsed while minor damage has been caused to over 8000 houses in the area," he said.

Asked as to how not a single death had been reported from Pauri district despite the devastating quake, Sarangi pointed out, "People have been alert since Saturday, and have been keeping outdoors at all hours of the day and night."

As many as 30 villages have been devastated in Chamoli district alone.

Garhwal Division Commissioner B M Vohra told UNI over telephone from Dehradun that the administration was concerned about the damage to a large number of houses in the three districts.

He said 700 houses were damaged in Tehri while in Rudraprayag the number was 6,000.

He said about 200 houses were damaged in Chamoli.

Vohra denied reports that many quake-hit villages could not be reached.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh is currently undertaking an aerial survey of the affected area. He is scheduled to visit some of the worst affected areas later in the day.

The aerial survey carried out by the air force and the civil divisional commissioner yesterday has confirmed that Chamoli was the worst affected district in the region.

Additional reportage: UNI

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