123 bodies recovered from Kedarnath temple area

Stranded pilgrims climb in a row as they are evacuated by army soldiers in Govindghat on Saturday. Soldiers were working to evacuate tens of thousands of people still stranded in Uttarakhand

As many as 123 bodies were recovered from the Kedarnath shrine premises in Uttarakhand after a team of experts scoured the venue on Saturday. The death toll from the flood calamity is now 680

More bodies may come to the surface in the next couple of days as the slush and debris lying in the area is being removed.

NATIONAL CALAMITY IN[UTTRAKHAND]

Relief efforts are still on in flood-hit Uttarakhand where 97,000 people have been evacuated till Monday.

Still 6,000 are stranded. More than 25 helicopters and about 1,000 vehicles have been pressed into service

HEAVY LOSS OF LIFE /PROPERTY

The Public Works Department (PWD), by Monday, had deployed 5,775 employees and 364 heavy machinery for constructing roads.

A total of 549 roads, including the Joshimath, Uttarkashi and Guptkashi roads, which were blocked, had been declared open.

On Monday, 2,000 additional police personnel along with 6,500 Army and paramilitary personnel were undertaking the relief operations.

While people from Kedarnath, Jangalchatti, Ghangria, Gangotri and Guptkashi have been fully evacuated, more than 5,000 pilgrims are still stranded in Badrinath and some at Harsil in Uttarkashi district.

KEDARNATH TEMPLE BEFORE AND AFTER