The kin of K Kumaresan (35), an Assistant Professor in a private engineering college, who went on a pilgrimage to Kedarnath in Uttarakhand are waiting for his return anxiously for the last two weeks. His whereabouts remain unknown, and the last time he contacted his family was on June 16 from Kedarnath. His family members had sought the help of the Puducherry government, to trace him.
According to family members, Kumaresan had left for Dehradun from Karaikal on June 13 to attend a skill enhancement and training programme scheduled for June 17 at IMS Unison University near Dehradun.
He had taken a flight from Bangalore on June 13 and is said to have landed at Dehradun on June 14. Since there was a brief interval for the inception of conference, it is said that Kumaresan had opted to visit the pilgrimage centres at Kedarnath and Badrinath.
He contacted the family for the last time on June 16 over the mobile phone of another pilgrim, as the battery in his handset had lost charge. He called his father Krishnamoorthy over another pilgrim, seeking directions to reach Badrinath shrine. Based on the call signals received from the mobile phone, the location was traced to Kedarnath. Speaking to Express, Sundar, brother-in-law of Kumaresan said, “Ever since we received the news of floods, we are running from pillar to post seeking information about him. So far, we have not got any information.”
The family members also said that Kumaresan travelled by bus between Kedarnath and Badrinath. But, following the severe rains and landslides, the Kedarnath-Badrinath road was blocked during the night when Kumaresan had made a call to his family.
“It will be great if the Puducherry government made special efforts to rescue my brother-in-law,” he added.
Citing the efforts pursued by the Tamil Nadu, which appointed special representatives to bring back the pilgrims, Kumaresan’s family is also calling for a similar approach from the UT government.