New Delhi: A team of 69 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel, accompanied by two cadaver dogs, four sniffer dogs, and veterinarians, joined the ongoing rescue operations in flood-hit Dharali village in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi district on Thursday, a senior officer of the force said.

The team is working to locate survivors and recover bodies after devastating flash floods struck the area on Tuesday afternoon.

An Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) spokesperson, speaking from Delhi, said that a total of 307 stranded pilgrims were evacuated by ITBP personnel from Gangotri to Mukhwa and were being transported to Harsil as of 11:45 am.

“This is a big disaster and the analysis of the damage is going on. The roads connecting Uttarkashi have been badly damaged. However, our teams are working in the affected areas to rescue the victims,” NDRF Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Gambhir Singh Chauhan told PTI.

He confirmed that two cadaver dogs have been deployed in the operation -- marking the first time in the NDRF’s 19-year history that such dogs are being used. The NDRF was established in 2006.

“Apart from the cadaver dogs who will help us find the dead, we have four sniffer dogs who can sniff out survivors,” Chauhan added.

He said the first NDRF unit reached Dharali on Wednesday evening, as access by road was blocked and aerial sorties from Dehradun were not operational due to adverse weather conditions.

Rescue operations are being carried out in coordination with teams from the ITBP, Indian Army, and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF).

Chauhan also noted that a communication centre has been set up in the disaster-hit area, equipped with a Quick Deployment Antenna (QAD) and satellite phones to ensure effective coordination. Veterinarians have been deployed as well to assist with livestock affected by the floods.

“We will try to rescue as many people and victims as we can,” he said.

PTI had earlier reported on 4 August that cadaver dogs were being deployed by the NDRF in Uttarkashi for the first time. These specially trained dogs are capable of locating bodies buried beneath debris and slush.

The NDRF has recently trained six cadaver dogs -- Belgian Malinois and Labradors -- using a specially imported scent that mimics the odour of human remains.

“For all these years, the NDRF was focused on its mandate of saving lives. Utilising the golden hour of finding life during a disaster has been the guiding principle of the rescuers and hence finding the dead or mortal remains was not a priority,” a senior officer recently said.

However, the officer acknowledged that NDRF personnel have often been called upon to retrieve bodies in the aftermath of disasters such as landslides, train derailments, or road accidents.

“Finding bodies or human remains is important to ensure closure for bereaved families,” the officer added.