Kin of two more labourers from Hazaribag contacted the State helpline number on Wednesday stating that the labourers were missing from a site in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand since the avalanche took place on Sunday. The count of Jharkhand residents missing from Chamoli jumped to 16 on the day, while the number of those stranded remained 17, highlighted data collected by the state control room for stranded and missing residents of Jharkhand.
As per data collected by the state control room, as many as 10 people from Latehar and seven from Simdega were stranded in Chamoli, while four people from Ramgarh, nine from Lohardaga, one from Bokaro and two from Hazaribag were missing. Most of the people stranded or missing from avalanche-ravaged Chamoli are daily wage labourers, officials said.
Meanwhile, 10 labourers from Latehar, who were stranded in Chamoli without cash since the disaster, reached Haridwar on Wednesday. Rooplal Singh, one of the labourers, said that their contractor gave them money only enough to travel up to Haridwar.
“Since we do not have money to buy tickets, we will travel ticketless from Haridwar to Dehri-On-Sone by train. From Dehri, we will travel by road to Jharkhand,” he said.
Rooplal added that many more labourers stranded in Chamoli were trying to find their way back to their respective states on their own as most of the state governments have not sent any help for the stranded labourers so far. A document shared by the state control room stated that information about Rooplal and his fellow labourers has been passed on to the Latehar Deputy Commissioner and Labour Superintendent.
The control room stated in the document that seven tourists from Jamtara were also safe in Chamoli and currently staying at Payag in Chamoli. One of the tourists, Rahul Kumar spoke to staff from the control room in Ranchi on Wednesday.
As per government figures, at least 32 people have been found dead following a glacial burst in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district which triggered an avalanche and massive flooding alongside the Alaknanda and Dhauliganga rivers on Sunday morning. While search operations are on at the site, none of the missing Jharkhand labourers have been found so far, sources said.
On Monday, the State government issued helpline numbers and WhatsApp numbers to help Jharkhand residents stranded or missing after the Uttarakhand tragedy.
Besides Jharkhand labourers, at least eight labourers from other states, including Karnataka, have contacted the state helpline number for help so far, government data highlights.
The helpline numbers are being managed by the Department of Labour, Employment and Training.