New Delhi, June 27, 2013: Scrutiny of the recent calamity in Uttarakhand has brought out the irrelevance of the list of “rescued people’’ released by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).

It has now come to light that many, who by sheer luck and by making the right choice at the right time were saved from the mega disaster, find their names figuring in the list of people ‘rescued’ by the NDRF.

Kamal Kant Yadav, who along with his wife went to Kedarnath, is one such person.

“We went to Kedarnath via Haridwar in a group. We hired a mini-bus from there and went to visit the temple. But had we been even an hour late in returning to Haridwar we would have been stuck there, but Kedarnath ji has been kind to us and we returned to where we were staying safe and sound.” he said.

Kamal Kant had travelled from Mohani in Jharkhand with his wife in a group of 22 people.

Flash floods

However, his group was not rescued by the NDRF or the Army, and as soon as they got to know about the deterioration in the weather and flash floods, they started their journey back.

“There was a road block for two days so we had to stay in Haridwar, but as soon as the road block got lifted we started back to our homes.”

The group returned by its own conveyance.

Similarly Manju Goel, a resident of Padam Nagar in Old Delhi, who along with her family and friends had intended to go to Kedarnath temple, said they returned once they came to know that there might be an oncoming calamity. Their name also figures in the list of ‘rescued’ people.

“We had hired our own car to go there, but once we came to know that something like a flood is happening in the area, we decided to return. Other than being stuck in Rampur for sometime nothing happened to us. I’m so grateful to god that we made this decision.” said a relieved Manju.

Source: The Hindu, DT. June 27, 2013.