Uncertainty prevailed on the 15th day of the calamity over the number of people killed with conflicting casualty figures doing the rounds.
While the Chief Minister has stated the death toll may cross the 1,000 mark, the state Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal had said yesterday that the figure may be more than 10,000.
With the majority of pilgrims evacuated from Badrinath, disposal of numerous bodies lying in affected areas and transportation of relief material to locals in flooded villages posed a fresh challenge to authorities.
The state authorities were facing difficulties in transporting relief material and performing the last rites as a large number of roads still remained breached or blocked due to debris from landslides.
Officials said despite the odds, over 274 trucks carrying foodgrains and other essentials have been dispatched to about 16 affected locations in the worst-hit Rudraparayag, Chamoli and Uttarkashi districts.
200 more pilgrims were evacuated from Badrinath to Joshimath today in five choppers and the government said that only 500 remained there with enough food material, medicines and doctors to take care of them.
Disposal of bodies in Kedarnath valley is going on but the process is slow due to frequently changing weather, DIG Sanjay Gunjyal told PTI.
The authorities said the casualty figure would be known only after removal of tonnes of debris from the affected areas.
An official estimate said about 550 people are still stranded at different locations across the state.
Evacuation from Badrinath is expected to be over by this evening, if the weather remains favourable, the officials said.
Meanwhile, Congress general secretary in charge of party affairs in Uttarakhand, Ambika Soni arrived here for a second visit after the tragedy struck.
"Sonia Gandhi is highly concerned about the welfare of the people of the state and I am here to see if relief material is reaching the affected people," she told reporters.
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