Every summer hundreds of thousands of devout Hindus make the Char Dham Yatra pilgrimage to four temple towns in Uttarakhand, returning before monsoon rains begin in July. This year early monsoon rains,the heaviest in 80 years, swept away entire villages in Uttarakhand along with thousands of pilgrims. The Army has evacuated 100,000 stranded people. The Air Force is conducting search and rescue operations with 45 helicopters - but bad weather has hampered progress. They were unable to fly to the temple town of Badrinath where 5,000 pilgrims need rescuing. Officials said they must get to the affected areas urgently - time is running out for survivors. Thousands have no shelter, fresh water or food. On Wednesday morning Air Force Chief NAK Browne visited Uttarakhand to boost the morale of pilots a day after a rescue helicopter crashed near a pilgrimage site. More than 800 have died in the floods so far.

Pray: for the thousands who still need rescuing from remote mountain areas, for the children, elderly and vulnerable who are most at risk. (Neh.9:17b & Ps.86:15)

More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-23058651