DEHRADUN/NEW DELHI: It's now a grim race against time. With the next round of heavy rains expected on Monday in the hills of Uttarakhand , rescuers have just Saturday and Sunday to carry out a mammoth evacuation of thousands stranded in Kedarnath , Badrinath , Gangotri and Yamunotri, many of them old or ill, and several without food or shelter. The official death toll has reached 550."Yes, we are running against time," admitted ITBP chief Ajay Chaddha whose men and Army soldiers are carrying out a heroic evacuation operation in frighteningly difficult conditions. According to Chaddha, around 1,000 people are still trapped in inaccessible areas of the Kedarnath axis. They are the most vulnerable as they are virtually without shelter in freezing nights and living on hardly any food.An officer conducting the operations in Kedarnath said some seemed to have already died due to hunger and illness. He said the elderly without food in such hostile conditions would be especially vulnerable. Apart from Kedarnath, which is the worst hit, another 10,000 are said to be marooned in the Badrinath-Hemkunt Sahib axis, while a similar number is said to be stranded in the Gangotri-Yamunotri axis. The numbers give an idea of the enormity of the challenging evacuation operation."Rescue work is in full swing," Uttarakhand principal secretary Subhas Kumar told TOI. He said he was aware of the rains forecasted. "By June 24, we should be able to evacuate all," he said, but added, "but it all depends on the weather. After all, a helicopter crashed today (on Friday)."The road to Kedarnath is virtually non-existent in the stretch between Rudraprayag and Gaurikund, while the road leading to Badrinath is badly damaged between Gobindghat and Badrinath. Garhwal divisional commissioner Suvardhan told TOI that it would take anything between two to three months to restore these roads, making rescue operations entirely dependent on air evacuation.Preparation for the next two days are also on at breakneck speed with new helipads coming up at Gaurikund and Auli while old ones at Kedarnath being enlarged to let MI-17 choppers land there. MI-17 can carry up to 14 people as compared to smaller choppers that carry only 5-8 people but need larger base to land.NDRF IG Sandeep Rathod on Friday said that June 22-23 were "key dates" and all the agencies were maximising their efforts to carry out majority of relief and rescue work during this time. "We know that rains may come anytime and the Meteorological department has also predicted rains in the near future. So we are geared up for that," Rathore said.To ensure quick rescue armed forces too have conducted some daring operations with IAF's MI-26 choppers lifting entire fuel tankers to rescue sites. Earlier choppers had to go back to Dehradun to tank up wasting crucial time and fuel. Also, ITBP jawans have decided to stay back at rescue sites instead of going back to their camps in the evening so that choppers carry back victim in their last trip.Both Ajay Chaddha and Subhas Kumar said that those stranded in Badrinath, Hemkunt Sahib, Gangotri and Yamunotri were relatively better off than those in Kedarnath because houses and hotels were still intact there (the Hemkunt Sahib gurudwara has not been damaged), although there was shortage of fuel, food and medicines.Five days and six nights after the "Himalayan tsunami", it's apparent that for tens of thousands trapped in Badrinath, Chamoli, Hemkunt Sahib, in hamlets along craggy rock faces in the bitter Himalayan cold, every moment has been be a struggle for survival.While around 16,000 people have been rescued by 22 helicopters, including at least 5,000 from Kedarnath and 1,000-odd from Gaurikund and Kedardunga in Rudraprayag, more than 40,000 people are still trapped in various places on the Char Dham route.Around 10,000 people in Badrinath are trapped without food or water, and images of old infirm people pleading with Army jawans to rescue them from privation and possible death is truly one of the more humbling and spine-chilling ones to have surfaced from this massive tragedy.The first television cameraman to reach Kedarnath after it was ravaged by flood and mudslide described in bloodcurdling details how the temple's interiors were strewn with bodies. Not all who took refuge in the temple, which got flooded for several hours before the water drained, survived."We need food packets and warm covers. The dharamshalas are broken and there's no protection against the cold," said a pilgrim , Dinkar, to a Rudraprayag journalist. Describing the scenes, he said, "There's a stretch of 50 km of broken road. It will take weeks for it to be repaired. The markets here are deserted and there's no food."Another Hindi newspaper journalist, Manoj Rawat, covering the tragedy, told TOI, "The focus so far was on Kedarnath. But the condition in Badrinath is rapidly deteriorating. There are thousands of people who have to be rescued. How long can they wait?"Lt Gen Anil Chait told reporters in Dehradun about the difficulties and challenges facing the jawans. "We've sent 10,000 jawans to search and rescue people who fled in all directions when the flood and mudslide struck." Their priority has been women and children, leaving the more able-bodied to bear with the adversities.While official sources said 331 pilgrims are missing, unofficial sources put the toll to between 10,000 to 15,000 in Rudrapryag district alone.Uttarkashi district DM R Rajesh Kumar said more than 9,000 pilgrims were rescued and shifted to Uttarkashi relief centre while 11,000 are still trapped in Gangotri and Yamunotri shrines in Uttarkashi district.