Pramchand Gupta (65), a retired bank official and a resident of Sarasvati Nagar locality in the State capital is among the lucky survivors who have walked out unhurt from the disaster in Uttarakhand. But the emotional trauma still persists as 14 others who had accompanied him on the fateful trip remain untraced till date.
Gupta had left for Kedarnath along with 13 other on June 9. “The trip had started very well and everything went normal till we reached Kedarnath on June 15. We went to Kedarnath temple at night during aarti on the same day. We all were in a jubilant mood,” Gupta told on Wednesday.
“Problems started on June 16 when on our way back to Gaurikund, the road was found blocked at Rambada. There was a huge crowd and nobody could move ahead. The reason was not clear and people were talking of all sorts of things. We thought that there was no point in waiting at that place and moreover we did not have the faintest idea of what actually was happening. Three of us decided to move ahead and see what was happening,” he recalled.
“Somehow, while crossing broken roads I lost contact with other two members of the group. At that point I started worrying because I was all alone and it was clear that the passage to Gaurikund has been damaged. Yet I kept moving ahead and reached Jangal Chatti by evening around 7 or 8 pm. I was having tea at a small tea-stall when all of sudden the stone over which I was sitting started trembling,” he said.
“Everybody was fear struck. The shopkeeper took nearly 16 or 17 persons to a small cave nearby where I stayed all night. I could hear faint noises throughout the night. The next day when I came out everything around was destroyed. Somebody told that water had suddenly erupted from a waterfall with great force and few people were also swept away and possibly killed. “There was chaos and confusion. It was not clear what was happening. My mobile was already discharged and I could not contact anybody. With a packet of biscuit and one water bottle to feed myself, I followed other people who were moving towards Gaurikund. But the road was blocked. I was trapped along with hundreds of other people around. There was no trace of anybody from my group,” he said. Recalling that time, Gupta’s daughter-in-law Shalini recalled that everybody in the family too was worried as they could not contact him anymore and news of the deadly disaster was everywhere.
“The next day, I climbed atop the mountain and saw the scene of destruction all around. Gaurikund and nearby areas were all swept away. Hotels, buses and even bodies could be seen. The only relief that I got was that I could call my family by somebody’s mobile. For next four days till June 22, I witnessed the ravage all around trying to fend for myself. Relief operations had already started by now and military was dropping food and rescuing people. But I did not have a chance amidst the chaos and had to walk 10 km more to reach Sitapur from where I got a taxi and reached Guptakashi,” he said in a slightly trembling voice.
From there Gupta had a comparatively smooth sail to Rishikesh where he took a plane to Indore and could finally reach Bhopal on morning of June 25. later, two other persons of the group also returned. However, 11 other are still missing. Out of them six persons are from same family living in Gupta’s neighborhood.