The return of those missing in the flood-affected areas of Uttarakhand, two months after the tragedy, would be nothing short of a miracle. More than 5000 people remain unaccounted for and the government hasn’t declared the missing “dead”, yet. So anguished relatives of the missing live with the hope that their loved ones are still alive. These relatives are putting their own lives at risk and travelling to Sonprayag, Rudraprayag, Ghansiyali, Phata, Gaurikund, Guptkashi and other areas, braving rough weather and dangerous roads more than a month after government rescue operations came to an end, to conduct their own search operations with permission from local government officials. Egged on by hope, despair and their families, in some cases, even by priests and astrologers, these people are searching villages, lodges, guest houses, ashrams and their ruins for “a sense of satisfaction” and an emotional closure of sorts.
A month after Ashish Ardhapurkar, 31, whose parents went missing in Gaurikund, sent the The Sunday Standard an email with pictures of an elderly couple being escorted by army personnel, saying the lady in the rescue operation picture bears a lot of similarity with his mother (inset below), Swarupa Ratnakar Ardhapurkar, 55, he was in Guptkashi. Ashish travelled to Uttarakhand all the way from Hingoli, Maharashtra, to know what happened to his parents Ratnakar Gangadharao and Swarupa Ratnakar who were in Gaurikund on July 16 when floods hit the Char Dhaam Yatra with a tour arranged by Ambika Tours & Travels, Shrirampur, Maharashtra. Speaking over the phone from Guptkashi on August 13 he said, “It took me two days to reach Guptakshi. I am being assisted by seven people including locals to get a clue about my missing parents.” Following Ashish’s request for help to find his missing parents on July 10, The Sunday Standard retrieved the details about the private helicopter shown in the picture with help from private chopper operation authorities in Dehradun. The Kedarnath office of Pawan Hans, the private operator to whom the chopper in the picture belonged, was contacted. At that time, the cremation of bodies in the flood-ravaged Kedar valley was in full -swing amidst heavy rains. In spite of repeated calls made to officials at Pawan Hans, Kedarnath, no information could be retrieved on the Ardhapurkars. “My parents suffer from health issues. I am still waiting for a confirmation from a Pawan Hans pilot regarding my mother. He has identified the area but no one in the villages was able to give a clue. I went upto Guptkashi to look for my parents.”
Ashish is not the only one from Maharashtra desperately scurrying for some good news amidst doubts and dwindling hope. A group of six people — Laxmikant Sonatkar, Shyam Deshpande, Kripa Deshpande, Vinod Patki and Shantidas Charkhandkar — were shuttling between Guptakshi and Phata, trying to get some information on Renuka Das Deshpande and others who are among the 49 missing from the Ambika Tour and Travels package group. Laxmikant Sonatkar, a reporter with a vernacular newspaper in Maharshtra, helped the group interact with locals and government officials. On August 13, Sonatkar and others from his group were in Guptkashi. On August 14, Sonatkar and co started their journey from Guptkashi, but they had to halt at Phata. They needed another permission from local administrators to allowed to go ahead. Sonatkar was exhausted, anguished and angry. He said over the phone, “We are not allowed to go beyond Phata to search for our dear ones. Locals are being allowed to go ahead. Have we travelled 1500 miles to face insensitivity from government officials? What is there to hide from outsiders like us?”
Sonatkar and others looked for belongings like identity cards, clothes, government documents like PAN card with some help from locals. Hemendra Singh, the sub-inspector who was posted in Gaurikund when the disaster struck says, “My team had conducted searches in the jungles around Bhairon Chatti and Jungle Chatti during the rescue operations in June and July. We found very few survivors. In the foggy dense jungles, many would have lost their way. Two months is a long time for anyone to survive these conditions.” Santosh Badauni, under secretary, Uttarakhand disaster management, insisted that the missing in Uttarakhand tragedy have not been declared dead yet. “Guidelines have to be followed before declaring the missing people dead. It’s a long process.” he said.
Krishna Madhav Reddy from Maharashtra went searching for a group of 12 people, including his parents who are missing since June 16 in Sonprayag. “Though the Armed Forces tried their best during search operations, we believe that many of the missing people were too weak and lifeless to be detected by the rescue crew from choppers. They may be still alive,” he said, echoing the hope of others. He reiterated the need of another rescue operation aided by technology used in the Japanese Tsunami disaster in his letter addressed to an official in the water resources ministry. Ajaykant Mishra, a lawyer from Pratapgarh whose brother went missing in Gaurikund and whose rescue was even reported in the vernacular press (with a picture) went to Ghansiyali earlier this month after a priest told them the missing could be traced there. “I am still waiting for my brother. I can’t ignore suggestions from priests in these difficult times and hence I undertook the difficult journey.” On August 19, Ashish returned from Guptkashi to Haridwar. His bags were packed, but he clung on to hope. A few days later, he embarked on yet another journey, again to Guptkashi for a “search operation” and returned to Hingoli on August 29, defeated, dejected and without any clue about his missing parents.