Rescue of old, women top priority: Shinde

The home minister added that the rescue efforts would be on in the rain-ravaged state for another 15 days.

"We are operating 17 helicopters to evacuate the stranded people. The Indian Air Force helicopters will stay in the state for 15 more days to finish the rescue and relief work," he said.

Shinde also lauded the coordination between various agencies involved in rescue and relief operations. "There is an excellent coordination between the (rescue) teams working in Uttarakhand. There were some problems in the initial few days, but after June 21 the work went on in full swing," Shinde said.

He, however, said there was no clarity as to how many bodies are still buried in the debris caused by flash floods and landslides in the hill state.

Chopper makes emergency landing
A helicopter made an emergency landing in flood-hit Harsil town yesterday. u00a0The Pawan Hans helicopter developed a technical fault as it was landing in Harsil town, an Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) official said. "There is no report of any casualties in this incident," said ITBP spokesperson Deepak Kumar Pandey.u00a0
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