Hampering work of disposing off the bodies for the past few days in disaster-affected Kedar Valley, the weather on Friday allowed the police personnel to carry out cremation. Police personnel cremated eight bodies while working in extremely odd conditions.
Weather troubled the special police team members. Weather condition kept swing every hour. Team members don’t know as to when weather would turn rainy from cloudy. Dense fog in the valley also added to the woes of the team members shouldered with the responsibility to shift and cremate the bodies.
Weather conditions didn’t allow choppers to fly. Sources in the team said that the ration could not be dispatched to the team members due to rough weather. “Duty is duty. We have to work and perform the given task. Each member of the team is working very hard. It is tough to extricate some of the bodies as they are in mutilated state,” an additional superintendent of police, who doesn’t wish to be quoted, said.
He further added that stench emanating from the bodies was a major problem. “It is too tough to shift the bodies for their mutilated state. However, we are doing it,” the officer said. He further added that working in such odd conditions was no less than a harrowing experience for the jawans assigned duty in such tough conditions.
He said that the passing night in the tent at the valley was an ordeal for the team members. “There is requirement of specially trained personnel for such a task. Some of the team members are trained, while others are working in such conditions for the first time,” the officer said.
Deputy commandant Navneet Singh Bhullar and additional superintendent of police (ASP) Manikant Mishra are part of the team. Bhullar is camping in the area since last fortnight, while Mishra along with other officers has been sent to the Kedar Valley two-day back. All members of the team feel that rough weather has made their task a really uphill one.