Uttarakhand cloudburst: Missing 28-member Kerala tourist group safe
Kochi, Aug 6 (PTI): A 28-member group of tourists, natives of Kerala, who had gone missing after a cloudburst triggered massive mudslides in Uttarakhand, are safe now, family members said on Wednesday.
A relative of a Kochi-based couple, who were part of the tour group, told reporters here that Defence sources informed them that all 28 tourists were safe.
"The latest information we received from Defence sources was that they are safe, but are still stuck in the bus and cannot go anywhere. Majority of them are above 55 years of age. Even Army personnel are unable to reach where their bus is located," the relative, Ambili N Nair, told reporters.
She said that even the Malayalam Samajam in Uttarakhand confirmed that the tourists were safe but stranded.
Of the 28 individuals, 20 are reportedly from Kerala settled in Maharashtra, while the remaining eight are from various districts in Kerala, Ambili told the media in the morning.
She said the couple's son last spoke to them a day ago.
"They said they were leaving from Uttarkashi to Gangotri at around 8.30 am that day. The landslides occurred along that route. We have been unable to contact them since they left," she had said.
She said that the Haridwar-based travel agency, which arranged the 10-day Uttarakhand tour, was also unable to provide any update on the group's whereabouts.
"Their phones may have run out of battery by now. There is no mobile network in that region currently," she said.
At least four people have been confirmed dead in the disaster that struck Dharali, an ecologically fragile region in Uttarakhand, following the cloudburst on Tuesday afternoon.
Officials said nearly half of Dharali was buried under a massive mudslide of slush, debris, and water. The village is a key stop on the route to Gangotri, the origin of the Ganga, and hosts several hotels and homestays.
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Gujarat voted for development & good governance, says Pradhan as BJP sweeps local body polls
New Delhi (PTI): Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday said the people of Gujarat have reaffirmed their faith in the politics of development, stability and good governance as the BJP swept the local body elections by winning all 15 municipal corporations and 33 out of 34 district panchayats in the state.
Thanking the voters, Pradhan said the result is a testament to the people's unwavering trust in the BJP, the relentless hard work of the party workers and the strength of the organisation under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the leadership of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel.
“The people of Gujarat have once again made it clear that their trust remains firmly aligned with the politics of development, stability and good governance. I express my heartfelt gratitude to the people of Gujarat for the support received by the BJP in the local body elections,” Pradhan posted on X.
“Under the guidance of the Hon'ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the leadership of Gujarat's Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, this result is a remarkable testament to the people's unwavering trust, the relentless hard work of the Gujarat BJP workers, and the strength of the organisation,” he added.
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked the people of Gujarat for what he termed a "sweeping mandate" in the local body polls, saying the bond between the state and the BJP has grown even stronger.
Modi said people have voted for the politics of good governance, and assured that the party would work harder to take Gujarat to new heights of progress.
Though final results for 250 taluka panchayats and 84 municipalities were awaited, data from the State Election Commission (SEC) showed that the ruling BJP won most of these local bodies while some were bagged by the Congress, AAP and Independents.
Polling was held on Sunday for 15 municipal corporations, 84 municipalities, 34 district panchayats and 260 taluka panchayats.
The BJP emerged a clear winner in the municipal corporations of Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Bhavnagar, Jamnagar and Rajkot, besides the newly created municipal corporations of Navsari, Gandhidham, Morbi, Vapi, Anand, Nadiad, Mehsana, Porbandar and Surendranagar.
