Kin of Jharkhand labourers missing in the Chamoli disaster are dealing with much more than the trauma of losing a family member – the sole bread earner in most cases. They have to now identify their dear ones among the partially-decomposed and mostly defaced bodies being fished out of the muck – a sight that can send chills up the spine of the strongest of people, say kin of the missing labourers, who are camping in Uttarakhand to identify the bodies found during the ongoing search operations.
So far, as many as 58 bodies have been found from the site of the disaster and only 31 of them have been identified. The identity of none of the 14 labourers missing from Jharkhand has matched the bodies that have been found so far.
The families of these missing migrant labourers know that there was no chance of them surviving, but they were still hoping against hope to see their missing family member alive.
Jaman Mahto, a resident of Gola block in Ramgarh, was at Chamoli on Wednesday to identify his son-in-law, Kuldip Kumar Mahto, who was working at a National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) site in Tapovan. He has been staying there for nearly a week, and the experience of dealing with the trauma of identifying his son in law among
defaced and decomposed bodies has scarred him for life, he said.
“I know there is no chance of his (Kuldip) survival. But, I want this process to end as soon as possible, so I can take his body and go home,” said Jaman in a shivery and anxious voice. “Kuldip is survived by his widow and two daughters, who are too young to take the responsibility of the family. All of them are emotionally shattered, and I don’t know how they will cope with this loss. He was only 30-year-old,” added Jaman.
Similar voices have echoed in the houses of 13 other Jharkhand labourers missing from Chamoli since a glacial burst triggered an avalanche there on February 7 causing major flooding alongside the Alakhnanda and Dhauliganga rivers.
An NTPC contractor, Ajay Kumar Singh, who was arranging for the travel of the kin of missing labourers in Chamoli admitted that the chance of survival of the missing labourers was bleak.
But, he was still cooperating with the family of missing labourers and trying to ensure that the bodies are identified.
“The bodies are so badly decomposed after being trapped under the debris for several days that it is almost impossible to identify them. Six more people from Ramgarh district of Jharkhand were here for the past couple of days to identify bodies. They left yesterday,” said Singh.
Two steps are being followed at the site of the tragedy to identify bodies, said another NTPC contractor Vinod Singh. Once a body is found, it is cleaned and shown to the kin of the labourers for identification. In the second step, the DNA samples of family members are collected and matched with the bodies that are found.
As per records with the state control room, as many as nine persons from Lohardaga, four from Ramgarh and one from Bokaro are missing from Chamoli since the incident. Besides Kuldeep, Birsai Mahto, Madan Mahto and Jitendra Mahto are Ramgarh labourers missing from Chamoli.
Birsai’s nephew Vikrant Mahto said that the bereaved family was only hoping for the formalities to get over
soon, so they can get the compensation and the time to
heal from their emotional wounds.
The family members of all the four missing labourers have given their DNA samples for identification of the bodies, added Vikrant.