Even though the debris-clearing operation in Shilagarh village, the site of the flash floods caused by the cloud burst, was speeded up today, confusion continued to prevail over the count of the dead with the administration and locals having different perceptions. Only one more body was recovered in the evening today and one of the survivors succumbed to injuries in Shimla, taking confirmed death toll to 20.Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who could make it only close to the site for want of a road early in the afternoon, backed the claim of the district administration that the toll may not exceed 50. Kullu Deputy Commissioner R. D. Nazeem was more conservative. Confirming 20 deaths and 22 injured, he said that the toll would not be more than 35. But labourers and their companions who survived the tragedy disagree. They maintain that the toll may exceed 100. Many, they feel, either got washed away or were trapped under the mound of debris. The visit of Chief Minister may not have brought more relief to the affected but it did help accelerate the rescue operations. Contingents of the Himachal Pradesh Police, Home Guards along with the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Jawans were seen searching for more bodies with tonnes of debris piled up by the flash flood, being removed. Additional DIG, ITBP, Kripa Ram, said some bodies may be still trapped under the debris.The body which was recovered yesterday was decomposed and had been cut into two pieces. ‘‘Many such bodies may still be traced,’’ stated one survivor. Officials maintained that it was not possible for any one to survive under such extreme conditions.
