New Delhi, June 20: Calling its effort “one of the biggest rescue operations”, the army today moved a reserve force of paratroopers from Agra to Uttaranchal where the soldiers slithered down from hovering helicopters in Kedarnath and the 14-kilometre track to Gourikund.

Shaken by the magnitude of the humanitarian crisis in Uttarakhand, all top government agencies will meet Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde in New Delhi tomorrow to discuss ways to deal with the situation.

Shinde said today that it is not clear how many people are trapped under the debris. Top sources in the ministry of home affairs conceded that “thousands may have died” and that it may be a “wrong strategy” on part of the state government to not reveal the real statistics.

After troops specialised in mountain operations slithered down from hovering helicopters, the army reported that the pilgrim destination of Kedarnath was still cut-off.

The paratroopers are briefed to help stranded people be winched up to helicopters for evacuation, trek over delicately built bridges and offer emergency medical aid apart from distributing water and food packets. Some of the columns are also carrying satellite telephones from which the stranded can make calls because most telecom towers have been destroyed.

The focus is on helping and evacuating the people who are stranded without waiting to count the dead and missing, whose numbers are pure guesswork right now.

“Operation Surya Hope”, (as the effort has been renamed after the initial “Ganga Prahar”), is planned along four main axes in Uttaranchal. But the magnitude of the effort required is still difficult to assess because the army and the air force — and the Seema Sashastra Bal and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) — have reported that they do not have enough resources to reach all the places.

To get a measure of the task, one army column today cleared 16 landslides and opened the road to Uttarkashi. Near the Gourikund-Kedarnath track, a first attempt by paratroopers to slither down from a Dhruv helicopter at around 10.30 this morning had to be abandoned because of bad weather.

Another column was asked to reach the track from the southern side at Guptkashi. A “stick” of paratroopers was finally deposited on the track in groups at intervals of two kilometres only after two this afternoon.

Army sources said that an additional 2,500 troops had been mobilised and were being deployed for rescue and relief efforts, bringing the total number of soldiers involved to almost 8,000. The troops have been asked to clear the four axes, viz, Rishikesh–Uttarkashi–Harsil–Gangotri axis; Rudraprayag–Kedarnath axis, Joshimath–Badrinath axis and Dharchhula–Tawaghat axis in Pithoragarh district.

They said 2,500 people have been evacuated from Sonprayag after the road to Uttarkashi was made usable by setting up a bridge across the Vasuki Ganga between Mundkatiya and Sonprayag.

The army has so far rescued 11,000 people, mainly from Govindghat and Harsil. About 10,000 people are also being provided food and medical assistance. On another side today, an army column led by two officers and 77 soldiers rescued about 60 people from the Pindari Glacier and 12 from Sunder Dunga Glacier in Kumaon region.

The army said it also rescued 11 members and 43 porters of a mountain expedition from Arva Tal on Gangotri–Mana axis.

After speaking to Uttarakhand chief minister Vijay Bahuguna on relief and rescue operations, home minister Shinde said clear weather is helping in evacuation of people to safer places but it was difficult to estimate how many people are trapped under the debris. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has equipment that can detect people trapped up to 12 feet beneath the ground but help is unable to reach affected areas due to the total destruction of roads and difficult terrain for choppers to reach.

ITBP chief Ajay Chadha said that although most people at the Kedarnath temple were evacuated, there are over 500 people in the upper reaches of the temple habitation who are gradually coming down. “Yesterday also, even as we felt that the area was cleared more people were found. So, there could still be more people in the surrounding mountains,” Chadha told The Telegraph.

At least 50 chopper sorties were made at Gaurikund where 1,000 people are stranded. Another helipad is serving those stranded at Kedarnath.