BERHAMPUR, July 5, 2013: With the 17-day rescue operations ending in Uttarakhand, those who went to the hill state in search of their dear ones have returned crestfallen. 

"I searched in each and every relief camp and hospital from Haridwar to Dehradun in the last 10 days. I waited in Dehradun waiting for batches of Odia people returning from different flood-hit areas," said P Bijay Kumar Patra of Lanjipalli, who returned on Tuesday night. He had rushed to Dehradun when the whereabouts of his nine family members and close relatives, including his mother P Adurumma Patra (55), was not known after the devastating floods. 

At least 12 persons from the district, who were on a Char Dham yatra, are recorded missing, while over 70 have returned safely. Seven missing persons belong to a family in Kurula, one each from Lanjipalli and three, including a woman, are from Digapahandi tehsil, said district emergency officer Mahendra Panda. 

"I returned to the village after thoroughly searching for my mother in the flood-hit pilgrim sites in the Himalayan hill," said Aswini Padhy of Adapada village. He along with his mother Baijayanti (60) had gone to Uttarakhand. 

"We have provided the photographs of missing persons of our area to the police and requested them to intimate us immediately after tracing them," said Narayan Mahakuda, an activist who went to Dehradun in the post-disaster period to assist in searching for Odias. 

But 45-year-old Snehalata Panda of Ganeshpur, whose husband Dwarikanath (48) is missing at Uttarakashi, has not given up hope. "I am still hoping to hear from my husband," said a sobbing Snehalata. She along with her son Hanuman Prasad returned recently.

Source: The Times of India, DT, July 5, 2013.