Four out of 18 people return safely from Kedarnath

KANPUR: From a group of 18 only four returned from Uttarakhand on Saturday after braving adversities for 13 days. The rest was claimed by the Nature's fury. Among the four is a father-son duo. The seven-year-old boy and his father had spent sleepless night waiting and searching for their family members who were swept away by the flash-flood following the cloud-burst. Fear and pain was palpable in their eyes as they narrated the tale of their agony, bravery and commitment of armymen and apathy of the administrative machinery in the hill state. Eighteen men and women from Saket Nagar and Barra had left for Kedarnath. The group, including Jitendra Dwivedi (38) was hoping to seek Baba's blessing. However, life had something different in store for him. He lost his wife Sharda Dwivedi (35) and 12-year-old daughter Yashi in the Nature's fury. Still hopeful of finding the two alive, he knows time is running out. Emotions ran high as he narrated the harrowing experience of spending 13 days in the flood-ravaged area with a kid running high fever. "It was a near death experience," he muttered. "Water was everywhere. Every moment felt as if it was the last. News of people dying came from all around. With every passing day, the chances of my surviving the fury along with my child were diminishing," said Jitendra. We ate leaves to survive. We were witness of the evil side of people who were busy looting gold ornaments from bodies and stealing money from pilgrims. It was man-versus-man situation. My wallet was full of money. But it was useless. There was no food. My son kept on crying for food but I could not help him," he added. Jitendra searched for Sharda and Yashi for six days. Realising the futility of the exercise, he trekked 70 kms from Kedarnath to Uttarkashi with his ailing son on his shoulder hoping to find conveyance for home. In Uttarkashi, he met another member of his group Roop Ram Mishra, who somehow hired a car and the trio returned to Kanpur on Saturday. Mishra, a resident of Barra, is yet to overcome the shock and the sight of bodies piled all around. He lost his wife Karun Mishra (45), daughter Akansha Mishra (19) and son Om (17). "We were returning after darshan at Kedarnath. Suddenly, it started raining heavily. We heard roars and everything around us started trembling. People started running and shouting for help. We also ran towards nearby shops for shelter. In the next few minutes the entire area was inundated by gushing water. The swift water current destroyed everything that came in its way," said Mishra. "I held my daughter's hand. My wife and son tried to hold on to the railing of a shop. As flood struck, I momentarily lost consciousness. When I returned to my senses all my family members were missing. Despite frantic search, I failed to locate them," he said further. The survivors are sore with the mismanagement and non-cooperation of the government, rescue teams and locals. "Despite repeated requests, food and water was not provided to us. Only armymen were helping people. The local police remained a mute spectator and never helped the victims," said Mishra. The fourth member of this group is seven-year-old Shivani of Goa Garden locality. She was found by a resident of Gwalior in Kedarnath. Initially, he took her to his hometown. From there he located Shivani's family brought her home. The girl had gone to Kedarnath with her uncle and aunt who are still missing. The other members of the group who are still missing include Shivani's uncle RC Gupta and his wife, Chandrakali Awasthi (70) and Preeti Saxena (42) of Barra, mother-daughter duo of Bittan Saini (49) and Nidhi Saini (20) from Parmat along with Radha Krishna Shukla(70) and Sarojini Shukla (64) of Barra. They all are missing since June 16. Jitendra Tripathi, a resident of Rasoolabad, Kanur Dehat district, and his wife Arti along with one another member of the family returned home on Saturday. Narrating about the ordeal he went through after floods, he said, "We paid Rs 50 for four 'puris' and Rs 60 for a bottle of water."

Source - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kanpur/Four-out-of-18-people-return-safely-from-Kedarnath/articleshow/20853098.cms