Family Evades Death’s Clutch

New Delhi, June 26, 2013: The harrowing experience of being in the midst of the Uttarakhand floods has left many with horrifying memories. A 14-member family from Hyderabad which was in Kedarnath survived by following their instincts. They abandoned their building near the shrine and went up the hills after the first flash flood. The town was swept away a little later.

“It was raining heavily when we reached Rajasthan Seva Sthal, a dharamshala near the Kedarnath temple, on June 14 but we never knew things could go so wrong,” said Secunderabad-based Surjeet Agarwal, a father of three. Staying on the ground floor of the dharamshala , the family sensed the oncoming calamity as water started to fill in. “On June 15, we had to shift to the second floor of the building because the ground floor started flooding with water. The next day, around 7 a.m. there was a flash flood and the entire building was flooded. Many bodies were seen in the vicinity. It was a very nauseating sight,” said Mr. Agarwal.

He said the two lower floors were submerged the previous night. “We stayed put there for the night, but by the next day we decided to get out of the place as we realised that the water was overpowering.”

With sheer determination and presence of mind, the group of 14 people – eight children aged between 10 and 13 and six adults – made a rope out of bed sheets to get out of the dharamshala .

Surjeet’s brother-in-law Manish Agarwal was also a witness to the ghastly calamity. “For the night, we stayed at the temple which was just next to the dharamshala building. We had nothing but sheer will-power to save ourselves and our family,” he said.

‘No food, water’

“But soon, we realised that the locals had started to move towards a nearby hill to escape the flood. We followed them only to realise that they were reluctant to help us. They guided us only half the way and then vanished. But we reached somewhere safe and for the next 72 hours, we were there with no food or water,” Manish said.

Help came to them on Wednesday, when a helicopter was sent to rescue them. “We were rescued by the helicopter that dropped us at Dehra Dun. But neither the government nor any other agency provided us food or anything else even after we reached the helipad,” Manish said.

“The locals were misdirecting us and diverting the police. In fact, we saw a bag with about Rs 1.5 crore recovered from the locals who stole the money from the temple,” he added.

“Whatever happened has happened, but we are grateful to God that we have reached back safe and sound. Kedarnath ji has been kind to us. Apart from a little weakness, we didn’t have to face any injuries,” said a relieved Manish.

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