Title - Firstpost India Uttarakhand live: Railways to give stranded pilgrims free travel

2.22 pm: Indian railways to carry all stranded passengers free of cost to their destinations

Minister for Information and broadcasting, Manish Tewari, who gave an update on the status of relief operations, said that 90 sorties were conducted today using 17 IAF helicopters and 11 private helicopters in Uttarakhand. He added that the NRDF has recovered 18 dead bodies and said that efforts were being made to ensure the uninterrupted supply of LPG, gas and motor spirits to affected areas.

“Search, rescue and relief operations are being carried out by the Army, IAF, private helipcopters, SSB, ITBP”, he added.

Tewari added that Indian railways had decided that they would carry all stranded passengers free of cost to their destinations.

In terms of telecommunications, Tewari said that 207 towers were down in the areas in the areas of Chamoli, Rudraprayag and Uttarkashi, adding that measures were in place to get them back up online and functional. “Emergency numbers 100, 101, 108 have been made operational”, he said.