Munnagi (Guntur Dt.), June 26, 2013: A steady stream of visitors call on the elderly couple at their house.

Bonthu Venkatrami Reddy (70) looks a bit tired but a sense of relief is palpable on his face after he returned safely to the warmth of his home after spending close to 10 days in wilderness and in biting cold on the flood ravaged hills around Kedaranath in Uttarakhand state.

Mr. Reddy is a part of 43-member group of men and women who left on a month long pilgrim tour in a local travel coach on June 2.

A few blocks away from his house, a sense of grief prevailed over at the house of Krishnakumari (50) and Malleswari (55), who were feared to have been swept away in the floods. Three persons, Tamma Kotireddy (70), Bommisetty Satyanarayana (60) and Mahalakshmi (55), have been missing since the floods devastated the hill shrine of Kedaranath two weeks back.

The group visited parts of North India, including Agra, New Delhi, Allahabad etc. before reaching Kedaranath on the evening of June 15.

“It started raining on Saturday night and on Sunday we felt vibrations around us in the hotel room. All hell broke loose on Monday morning as a series of violent landslides began and a torrent of gushing water from the mountains began sweeping away people and vehicles,” recollects Mr. Reddy.

His wife, Annapurnamma, reminisces of the most terrifying experience in her life. “For two days, 40 of us squatted in two tiny rooms shuddering and shivering in biting cold. We had no access to water, food and power. We had no connection with the rest of the world,” she said.

A glimmer of hope shone on Tuesday afternoon after they climbed 4 k.m down the slippery mountains to reach a police quarters, where they were provided with water and biscuits. But the endless wait to reach the plains continued as for three days, they were made to wait for helicopters to take off but were not able to make it due to lack of space.

Finally, they arrived at Patha by a chopper and reached New Delhi on Friday. They boarded the Dakshin Express on Sunday and arrived in Vijayawada on Tuesday afternoon.

“We will never visit Kedarnath again in our lives. The response of the local administration was very cold and we were left to fend ourselves in biting cold,’’ she said.

Just a few yards from their house, members of the family of Tamma Kotireddy sat huddled in the verandah. His wife Vimalamma is distraught as it has been eight days since her husband spoke to her. “He is a strong man and I hope that he will survive the ordeal,” she says.

In yet another home belonging to Bommisetty Satyanarayana, local merchant, heartrending scenes were witnessed as his two daughters, Pavani and Parvathi, wept clinging to the family picture. The picture has both their parents along with their daughters in happier times.

Life will never be the same for the families in Munnangi village.

Source: The Hindu, DT. June 26, 2013.