To buttress his claim that bodies of the 2013 disaster victims were still lying buried in the heap of rubbles near Kedarnath shrine, Haridwar MP Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank challenged that he would quit from the Parliament in case the State Government could nullify his claim.
“At the same time, the Chief Minister must quit after seeking apology from the people in case bodies are found from beneath the debris as I have pointed out,” he said.
He further said the State Government must start the operation right now to extricate bodies lying underneath the rubble. “If they fail I would embark on the search operation myself,” the former CM of the State said.
Recently, Nishank had visited to Kedarnath to review the ground situation and to see whether things were as good as the State Government claims.
During the visit, he came to learn from a priest that the bodies of several of his family members have remained buried under the debris of damaged buildings, he said. “The priest told me that the State Government is neither allowing his family members to extricate the bodies nor are they doing so themselves,” Nishank said. “I am aghast to think how insensitive the State Government is. Bodies remain buried for two years and the State Government is not lending credence to what I am claiming,” he said.
Rubbishing the State Government’s claim of restoring normalcy in the disaster-affected areas, Nishank said it had failed to execute disaster relief and rehabilitation work on priority basis. “Infrastructure is still in bad shape after two years since the disaster struck the State. Instead of working on the ground, they are engaged in juggling with financial data,” he said.
Notably, he had visited Kedarnath thrice since the disaster had crippled the State. After his first post-disaster visit, he apprised then Prime Minister of the ground situation. The State Government imposed Section 144 to stop his second visit. And during the third one, he has found bodies trapped under a damaged house.