Following a heroic effort to evacuate and rescue stranded victims from the flood disaster in the areas bordering Uttarakhand, the central forces have turned down a request to finish the operations after performing the last rights and cremation.

The National Disaster Response Force and the Indo Tibetan Border Police have left behind more than 800 bodies in Kedernath and Gaurigaon after a collaborated rescue operation. Now that the extrication is complete, state officials have requested these forces conduct the cremation of the dead.

This would require another massive operation with proper sanitation procedures and minimal adverse effects to the environment. Reports confirm that there are no survivors in Kedernath, where a temple was located. A meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) headed by the Cabinet Minister reiterated that cremation procedures were part of the government's job.

An ITBP official was quoted by The Indian Express as saying, "They have been asking us to cremate the dead also. We have refused and have asked them to get home guards and sanitation staff for the mass cremation. Our boys are not going to cremate the dead."

Cadets from both the NCMC and ITBP are stationed in Kadernath, where the shrine was located and they are still there despite no news of survivors.

Another official said that evacuation of the stranded was their job, but cremating bodies was the job of the local governments.

Amid these discussions, an Indian air force chopper went down during Uttarakhand Relief Operations on Tuesday. All twenty of the passengers on board died. Five of those killed in the crash were IAF personnel, while six were from ITBP and nine from NDMC.