In flood-hit Uttrakhand, air rescue operations continued on a war footing today after a brief suspension due to bad weather early on Sunday morning to evacuate over 22,000 stranded people. ITBP jawans remained engaged in constructing foot tracks to speed up the evacuation work.

Officials said the evacuation exercise has been stepped up in view of warning by the MeT department of light to moderate rains in the region from Monday.

ITBP DIG Amit Prasad told reporters at Gauchar that foot tracks are being built in an area of about 50 kms near Badrinath to evacuate stranded pilgrims. He said this is being done to reduce dependence on weather.

Around 82,000 pilgrims have been evacuated so far from the worst-hit areas. Disaster Management authorities in Dehradun said, the focus has now shifted to Badrinath where nearly seven to eight thousand pilgrims are still stuck. Officials told our correspondent that there is no scarcity of food items in Badrinath.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Ambika Soni has said that the Centre is working on a long-term plan for the reconstruction of the extensively damaged areas in rain-hit Uttarakhand.