Ever since the Uttarakhand flash floods ravaged the state, many families have been worried, waiting to see their loved ones who went missing when the tragedy struck on Sunday. Hours have turned into days, and today, five days later many wait with hopes in their hearts and prayers on their lips.
One such is the family of Basharat Zargar (52), general manager at Kundan Group which owns the hydel project, has been running around since Monday hoping to find his body.?
On Wednesday, as work on the road construction progressed, his brother Shabir lost patience.?¡°The organisation has made it very clear that they will not look for the bodies anymore. Why else would they pour mud and cover the area with stones instead of digging. This is a tragedy and we understand road connectivity is important but doesn¡¯t everyone deserve dignity in death? We are just asking them to recover their bodies,¡± he said, tears streaming down his face.?
Each time someone mentioned that another body has been pulled out of the debris, missing Basharat's son Salik Zargar pushed past officials engaged in the rescue and relief operations to check if it was his missing father. Each time, the body was that of someone else and the 24-year-old would return relieved, yet anxious.
Salik said he wanted to believe that there was still a chance that his father was alive.?Salik, a student at a Noida university, and his uncle Shabir Zargar, who lives in Srinagar, reached the village after efforts to contact Basharat over the telephone failed ¨C after the flood hit the area on February 7.
Basharat had been working with the Kundan Group, which owns the now destroyed Rishiganga Power Project, for more than a year, said Shabir. In his capacity as the general manager of the project, Basharat worked from Delhi but would often visit the plant.
¡°Give me even a finger of my son and I¡¯ll return to my village to cremate him,¡± a tearful Ram Daman Singh, father of welder Vijay Singh, feared to be buried in the barrage, begged army officers on Wednesday afternoon.?
Like Vijay Singh, dozens of workers at NTPC¡¯s hydroelectric project are believed to be buried several metres under debris in the barrage close to the entrance of a tunnel where multiple agencies have been working round-the-clock for over 4 days.?
¡°My brother Jitendra Kumar was outside the tunnel when the flood hit. He made a video call to me at 10.25am. When he called again at 10.34am, I failed to take his call. My family has been constantly asking me if he is alive. How do I tell them that I may have to return without even his body. The officials here have ...asked me to return home, saying that it could take two-four months to find his body,¡± said Pawan Kumar, a man who arrived here from Doda in Jammu and Kashmir.?
Others sounded more desperate. Mrityunjay Kumar from Patna said his brother, assistant engineer Manish Kumar, was married just two months ago. ¡°Please deploy the army, the navy, anyone. At least give me my brother¡¯s body,¡± he said in tears.??
In Mazra Babupurwa village of Shekhori in Tikunia area in Uttar Pradesh, Hiralal and his sons Rakesh and Vimlesh, Suraj and his son Bechulal, Arjun and his son Dukhram are missing since Sunday. Family members said the news surfaced after Vimal called his parents on Sunday and informed them that he was injured and rest of his collegues were missing.
Munnalal, 46, said six members of his family were missing in the disaster. Speaking to India Today, Munnalal said his elder brother Shri Krishna and his son Raju were the only source of income for the family.
Manoharlal, 66, said he last spoke to his son Ram Terath at 9 am on Sunday before he left for the site. "I need to know if my son is alive or dead and request the government to help the family as he has three children," he said. Bhedauri village head Dhruv Kumar Verma said eight people were missing.