Tall claims, long meetings spread over hours, and VIP visits. Amid all this, wounded by the natural calamity on June 16-17, Uttarakhand moans in pain. So many VIP visits, tall claims by the leaders and long hours of meetings at the corridors of power to extend relief to the State failed to give permanent relief to the State. Even after three weeks, its wounds are still afresh.
The State Government proved to be a late starter. Rescue and relief work came a little late, many claimed. Delayed commencement of rescue and relief operation further deepened the wounds of the pilgrims whose kin went missing in the disaster. Though the healing process sets in with the passage of time, the wounds are very much evident. Scaring memories of the catastrophe that ravaged the State within few minutes often haunt them.
The catastrophe didn’t spare anyone whosoever came on its way. It swallowed children, elderly people, young men, women, vehicles, and 14 police personnel who were on duty at different location between Gaurikund and Kedarnath. Even 20 rescue personnel became victims to rough weather after their chopper crashed.
‘Mystery’ shrouds missing figure that swelled to 4,000 from 17, which was reported on June 18, a day after the natural disaster hit the state. On June 17, 30 deaths were reported. The Chief Minister, however, feared that death toll could be in hundreds. Gradually, the death toll increased. It swelled from 30 to 54 on June 18. Moreover, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi air surveyed the disaster-affected areas.
On June 19, death toll crossed 100 mark, reaching 102. A day after that is on June 20, the death toll mounted to 172. On that day, the Government claimed that more than 30,000 persons were rescued to safer locations from different disaster hit districts, including Uttarkashi, Chamoli and Rudraprayag. On June 21, death toll increased to 207, and 65,937 persons were shifted to the safer places.
The death toll mounted to 557 on June 22. The authorities once increased the figure and took it to 580. However, the eye witnesses claimed that death toll might cross figure of thousand. Interacting with the media persons on the same day, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna said that the disaster might have killed 1000 people. Moreover, on June 25, the state government claimed to have evacuated all the stranded persons from Govindghat, Jangalchatti, Gaurikund, Ghangaria and Kedarnath.
Till July 2, the State Government claimed to have evacuated more than 1.1 lakh pilgrims to safer locations by carrying out a mammoth rescue operation that involved Army, Air Force, ITBP, NDRF and Police personnel. The state police also pressed its Anti-terrorist squad into service. In next few days, some more people were shifted to safer locations.
Dehradun, the capital city, witnessed people sobbing and crying after missing their kin in the disaster. Jolly Grant Air Port and Sahasradhara helipad never before saw so many people and choppers together. The two locations also witnessed kin shouting at the administration and ministers, blaming them with lackadaisical approach. Yelling at them, some went into tears.
Distressed kin, after taking all efforts to search their missing relatives, have returned to their homes. Silence prevails in periphery around the Jolly Grant Airport. Sahashradhara Helipad also bears deserted look. Few people are sitting in a tent set up there.
At the Secretariat, series of meetings are in progress. From bottom to top, everyone is busy in doing estimation of loss caused by the disaster. Apart from sporadic calls, phones remain silent day long. Officials on duty there are busy in preparing data of the loss and missing persons.
Amid all this, Uttarakhand stands alone. It moans in pain as if it were telling that had its trees been not hacked, it would not have to suffer so much devastation caused by nature’s fury. It also makes request to the authorities to take serious and concrete efforts to reconstruct its damaged and devastated sites.
Amid all this, there are many, who often claimed that the rescue operation at a massive scale started a little late. Had the rescue operation been started on June 17, the scene would have been much different. Moreover, state government is busy in search of exact figure of the missing persons. As of now, it stands at around 3,800, according to the chief secretary Subhash Kumar, and according to CM, the figure is more than 4,000.