Bodies are lying scattered here and there in disaster-affected Kedar Valley area. Only heads are protruding out of sludge.
Rest parts of the bodies are submerged in 10-15 feet debris caused by cloudburst. One cannot imagine the grimness of the situation in the area,” Dilip Kumar, who witnessed the heart-rending havoc, said.
Kumar didn’t want to recall the scene as it pained him. He never witnessed so many bodies together. “Everything was finished in half-an-hour. I have no idea about the exact number of casualties, but I am sure that number of deaths would be more than a thousand,” Kumar, a cook at a tour company, said. He was there for last two months. He never imagined that intervening night of Sunday and Monday would be night of the Himalayan tsunami. Kumar will never forget the night in his lifespan. As he gave the ground zero account, tears wailed up from his eyes.
“As I recall the grim scene of the disaster-hit valley, a strange pain shook me from inside. It is something that cannot be explained in words. It was too painful to see so many bodies lying together in an area. Disaster literally altered outline of the area,” Kumar recounted.
He said that a Pundit told him that the death toll may mount to extremely alarming figure that might be more than a thousand. “Scattered bodies in the area corroborate the claims by the Pundit,” Kumar said. He, however, expressed thank to Army and police personnel for helping him and providing food when he was in rough weather.
Rajesh Kumar, another person rescued from Kedar Valley area to Sahasradhara Helipad by a Chopper, also depicted a grim scene. He was reluctant to talk about the scene in the valley. After much persuasion, he also gave almost similar account. “Please don’t ask any thing related to number of people lost their lives. Several bodies are lying there. Rescue personnel, including Army, NDRF and police Jawans, are rescuing the stranded people on priority basis. In the meantime, they have started recovering the bodies. They are doing proper documentation of the persons and rescued,” he said.
He advised the kin of stranded people to be patient and wait for their stranded kin at safer places as visiting to Kedar Valley was not possible at present. If they try so, they would land themselves in trouble. Their visit may also cause hindrance in rescue operations.
One of the pilots, rescuing the stranded people, also confirmed the fact of grim situation. “It is a massive disaster that claimed several hundred lives. Situation is grim and people should cooperate with the rescue teams in the rescue and relief work, instead of reacting and criticising the officials every now and then,” he said.
The pilot, who was not willing to be quoted, praised the rescue team members and pilots for delivering their best in this need of hour. The pilot also looked aggrieved with the scene he witnessed in the course of ferrying stranded people from the disaster-hit valley to Sahastradhara helipad.h