Residents stranded by floods along key pilgrim route

Kids commute on a floating dock in a flooded residential area after heavy monsoon rains induced a rise in the water level of the Ganges river in Varanasi on August 6, 2025. (Photo by Niharika KULKARNI / AFP)

RESCUERS used helicopters to pluck to safety people stranded by flood waters in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand two days after a sudden inundation and landslide killed four people, while more than a dozen were still missing.

With roads cleared as rain eased, rescue teams arrived in Dharali yesterday, where Tues­day’s wall of water had submerged in sludge homes and cars in the village on the way to the Hindu pilgrim town of Gangotri.