Rumours and confusion prevail in Uttarakhand: kin

After twelve days of uncertainty over the whereabouts of his missing mother and relatives who were last seen near Rambada, Pune resident Anant Kamthe’s patience is wearing thin.
For the past four days, Kamthe has been visiting ashrams, hospitals, relief camps and state information centres in Rishikesh for news about his mother.

Rumours doing the rounds is adding to his misery.
“Someone told us that a girl had seen a group of elders around 4-5 days ago near the forest area in Rambada. The girl trekked to safety but the Marathi-speaking seniors were too tired to walk. Another rumour is that some group of stranded pilgrims is alive and are flashing a torchlight to passing Army helicopters but it is not possible to descent to that area,” said Kamthe.

His mother and four other relatives are a part of a group of missing pilgrims from Pune’s Shiv Gauri Travels. Whether for better or worse, Kamthe said that he only hopes to hear some confirm news which can put an end to this unbearable period of uncertainty.

Even as rescue forces have stated that 1,237 stranded pilgrims are likely to be rescued within a couple of days and another 3,000 pilgrims are missing, the hopes of the Tak family are diminishing.

“On June 16, my brother had called to tell us that he had just finished prayers at Kedarnath temple and started descending the hills. The rains had begun and he said he feared it might increase. That was the last conversation with him. My nephew is now in Dehradun trying to locate his parents while we are coordinating with Maharashtra Sadan and other agencies. This period of uncertainty is killing us,” said Kaustubh Tak.

One of the worst affected persons is Thergaon resident Suraj Pawar who now carries the burden of not being able to reach out to his parents and sister. The family of four was caught up in the rains near Rambada-Gaurikund route and were trekking to safety when the others got breathless. Suraj promised to get help and trekked onwards but collapsed as soon as he reached near an ashram.

“When he got up, he wasn’t allowed to go back since the situation had worsened. There has been no news of his parents Vasant and Urmila Pawar and sister Pallavi since that night. For ten days, he searched all relief camps, hospitals, ashrams in Dehradun, Rishikesh etc. before our family forced him to return to Pune. He is currently in a state of shock and unable to even speak well,” said Mayur Survase, his maternal cousin.