Uttarakhand floods: Frantic search on in cyberia

With six days gone by and no trace or little contact with relatives yet, their family members have resorted to using various social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook to circulate pictures and appeal for help.

Eight members of Vijay Bapu Sonar’s family are stranded somewhere near Gaurikund and they spoke to their family only for a few seconds on Thursday.
“They told me they’re safe and asked me not to ask them about food or other conditions as it was too much to describe. The line got disconnected and I haven’t been able to contact them,” said Sonar.  With no response from any helpline, Sonar is now appealing to netizens for help on various social media.

Their main worry is about the kids aged three and five who’re with them. “I shudder to think about, especially the little ones, sleeping on some mountain top for the last six days in biting cold and rain,” he said.

Ditto with Aurangabad-based Atul Modani who is desperately trying to contact his relatives since Sunday. Terming the apathy of the administration as “disgusting”, the chartered accountant has now turned to social networking sites for help.

Modani last spoke to his sister-in-law Sunita Jetliya who was airlifted from Kedarnath temple and has been relocated at a camp in Ramkund. She was part of a group of 14 people. “Of the 14, my sister-in-law was traced and three others are on their way back to Aurangabad. But my other relatives are missing... Some are as young as 11,” said Modani.

Belapur resident Mahesh Srirao has put up pictures of his sister Swarupa Ghulane and brother-in-law Pradeep and other family members on networking sites. “They were at Kedarnath on Sunday but were told to take shelter at higher altitudes. Last we know is that only two of six had moved higher up. The others are somewhere between Gaurikund and Guptakashi but there’s been no word about them yet.”