A Maruti stands rammed into the muck that stretches as far as the eye can see. Next to it, a three-storey hotel has sunk into the quicksand-like ground, with one of its floors jutting out. It is the only structure visible in the swamp around it.
More than 200 rescuers, divided into three sectors for the search and relief operations, are at work. Having plunged into the ground several times, the exactors now move around in the muck on wood and tin sheets. On the other side, a help desk has been set up to help families of those who are missing lodge complaints. With a template of the complaint pasted behind the desk, sub-inspector Santosh Bhatt and constable Pushpa navigate a line of people related to the victims of the floods that struck Dharali on August 5.
On the seventh day of the operations, the district administration and the National Defence Response Force say one body has been recovered, while the State Disaster Management Authority puts the figure at two. At Dharali, the NDRF, SDRF, and the Army had demarcated three sectors based on the footage of the flood, response of cadaver dogs, and the life detectors they deployed. The detectors throw up signs of bodies up to a depth of three metres, but the debris is estimated to have sunk structures and humans 20 metres deep. A cadaver dog is not equipped to pick up scent deeper than 4 feet.
For the first time, the police have curated a list of people missing or feared trapped in the debris. Of the 68 missing, eight are from Dharali, 25 from Nepal, 13 from Bihar, eight from UP, seven from Rajasthan, and five from other parts of Uttarakhand. This is the estimate, according to the police, from the calls they have been fielding from distressed relatives over the last six days.
The help desks, set up at Uttarkashi and Dharali, are for families to submit documentation on the missing, as a means for confirmation. So far, the help desk has received the applications of 18 missing people – eight from Uttarakhand, nine from Nepal, and one from Uttar Pradesh. However, the list does not include the eight Army personnel missing after the floods struck their camp in Harsil. This would take the missing to 74.
The oldest of the victims is 60, the youngest is a one-year-old, who officials say went missing with his parents.
The flash flood, which hit the village of Dharali, is feared to have killed several people. (Express Photo)
On Monday, there was a queue at the desk of families of workers from Nepal as well as states across India. Dhan Singh and Prakash from Nepal’s Kailali are waiting to lodge a complaint about the latter’s brother, Ramesh, and his wife, Priya, who they saw get engulfed by the tide of debris along with the hotel where he worked. Bhatt looks at the names in her list and spots Ramesh’s name. From a file with hundreds of A4-size white sheets, she hands out one for the duo to fill in a complaint. She places another complaint in front of them. “Write the letter in this format and attach a photograph of the victims,” she says. When the duo seeks help on account of not knowing Hindi, a stranger takes over and writes it.
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Govind is next. He lost his father, Laxman, in the floods while on a call with him. As he writes the application, another police officer goes to his side and reads out the template.
Bhatt says that the number of missing locals of the village was confirmed, and they are anticipating more families to turn up. “There is another help desk at the Uttarkashi district emergency operation centre… Once the signal for all network providers returns, we will get a better picture,” she says.
One of the workers from Nepal who is feared missing, Neem Bahadur Singh, was near the Kalp Kedar mandir when the floods struck. Pointing to the spot where an earthmover is busy excavating, his relative Narendra Singh says, “That’s where he was. I saw him getting overpowered by the deluge.” Bhatt interjects, “Please write the identification marks and the physical characteristics of the missing. This would help us identify them.”
Located just 10 km from the popular tourist spot Harshil in Uttarkashi district, Dharali was struck by sudden torrential rainfall that caused severe disruption. (Source: Express Photo)
Singh asks if the body, having been buried for seven days, will be identifiable at all. “This is the procedure. We are just following orders,” she responds.
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Many of the workers from Nepal were seasonal workers. Prakash and Dhan Singh say they would leave in 15 days if the bodies of the couple are not found. “If they cannot find them in 15 days, how can we expect them to be found ever,” Prakash says.
