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Nearly
3,000 people are still missing following floods and landslides which hit
India's Uttarakhand state a fortnight ago, the chief minister of the state has
said.
More than
800 people are reported to have been killed so far but Vijay Bahuguna said the
exact number of deaths may never be known.
Hundreds of
people are still trapped in the Badrinath area, reports say.
Some
100,000 people have already been evacuated from the flood-hit region.
This year's
early monsoon rains in the Uttarakhand region are believed to be the heaviest
in 80 years.
Swollen
rivers have swept away entire villages in the state, where there were many
travellers in what is peak tourist season.
"According
to my information about 3,000 people are still missing. We will compensate
their families. They have to give an affidavit saying that their relatives have
not returned home for more than 30 days."
Officials
say many bodies may have been washed away or remain buried under debris. Some
of the bodies were recovered in rivers downstream from the flood zone.
Distraught
relatives clutching photographs of missing family members have been waiting for
days in the state capital, Dehradun, hoping for news.
The Indian
military has been flying helicopters into the mountains to evacuate tens of
thousands of people trapped by damaged roads and landslides.
Reports say
some 900 Hindu pilgrims and tourists are still stranded in the Badrinath, one
of the worst-affected areas. They are expected to be evacuated on
Monday.
While most
of the stranded people have been rescued, the extent of the damage to the local
communities is still unclear.
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