He said around 8000 lives were saved as all tourist police chowkis kept on announcing that there would be heavy rainfall and that they should try to avoid the yatra.
“I think my men did a huge job, that today we have saved around 7000-8000 people, they were kept alive by them, they were taken to safe places or advised to be taken to safe places that did a great work,” he said.
Kedarnath Valley, the temple town which was the epicentre of the floods and landslides, was yesterday cleared of all stranded pilgrims in stepped up rescue operations.
The official death toll as of yesterday was put at 680 while Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna said the death toll is likely to be around 1,000.
Meanwhile, 14 American tourists struck at Banjar camp in Himachal Pradesh's rain-ravaged Kinnaur district were evacuated and brought to Rampur as rescue operations to airlift 200 tourists and locals resumed this morning.
Uttar Pradesh also received fresh rains today leading to a rise in the water level of Ganga, Ghaghra and Sharda rivers.
