Google has launched a tool called ‘Person Finder’ which will help trace the missing people in flood impacted regions of Uttarakhand, India. The tool is available in both Hindi and English. As per a Reuters report, thousands of people are stranded in parts of northern India and at least 150 are feared dead in flood-hit Uttarakhand.

Google Person Finder is a web application that allows individuals to post and search for the status of relatives or friends affected by a disaster. All data entered into Google Person Finder is available to the public and searchable and accessible by anyone.

The program also lets press agencies, non-governmental agencies and others contribute to the database and receive updates by using the Person Finder API based on the PFIF open standard.

Since last week, the state of Uttarakhand in India has been grappling with severe floods. Most of the areas are highly inaccessible and have intermittent communication. 

Google Person Finder was developed in response to the January 2010 Haiti earthquake in order to help those affected by the earthquake connect with their loved ones.

Meanwhile, the National Disaster Management Authority has listed the following helpline numbers for control rooms across rain affected areas in the state of Uttarakhand. However, some media reports stated some of these numbers are not working.

Uttarkashi: (+91) 1374-226461,
Chamoli: (+91) 1372-251437, 9411352136,
Rudraprayag: (+91) 1364-233727,9412914875,
Tehri: (+91) 1376-233433, 9411548090
Kedarnath: (+91) 1364-233727
Control Room (Uttarakhand): (+91) 135-2710334, 9557444486